Chapter 111: Earthquake in German Football, Klinsmann is fired Bild: Before the game, many fans were expecting a big victory over the Chinese team, but what they got was a humiliating defeat. The German team suffered a crushing 1:3 defeat to the Chinese team at home. The team's tactics were in disarray and they had no fighting spirit. Perhaps Klinsmann's work with the national team has come to an end. "Le Monde": Football Emperor Beckenbauer and many football legends collectively criticized Klinsmann, believing that he should resign immediately! "Süddeutsche Zeitung": This is the darkest moment for German football. Under the leadership of Klinsmann, German football is sliding into the abyss. Even the Chinese team lost, we can't help but ask, what's wrong with German football? …… After the game, all major German media outlets were wailing and mercilessly criticizing the German team and its head coach Klinsmann. The team lost three consecutive warm-up matches, first to Slovakia, then to Türkiye, and finally suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Chinese team. This kind of result cannot be explained to the fans in any way, and someone must stand up and take responsibility. Klinsmann, who is only good at team management but not good at formulating tactics and whose coaching results are terrible, naturally became the scapegoat. After the game, Klinsmann could not withstand the external pressure of public opinion and personal attacks from extreme fans, and had to submit his resignation to the German Football Association.
The German Football Association did not try to persuade him to stay and quickly convened a press conference to officially announce the news. At the press conference, when Klinsmann announced his resignation, he looked haggard and tired, which was in stark contrast to his high-spirited appearance when he joined the national team in his early years. This made countless reporters who came to interview feel sad. Another young general has fallen into disgrace. But what is even more curious is who will be the next head coach of the German team after Klinsmann resigns? The answer was soon revealed. The new coach of the German team was none other than Joachim Loew, the assistant coach who joined the national team together with Klinsmann! Compared to Klinsmann, who has no coaching experience, Loew has coached some teams. Although his achievements as a player were far less brilliant than Klinsmann's. But in the coaching industry, Löw's talent far exceeds Klinsmann's. When Löw was coaching Stuttgart, he led the team to win the German Cup and also led the team to the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, but unfortunately they lost 0:1 to Chelsea and finished second. Even so, Löw is not a famous coach after all, which makes the outside world inevitably worry about the future of the German team. The German Football Association was forced to choose Löw. With the World Cup about to start, it is not realistic to invite a famous coach in such a short time. Moreover, after Klinsmann took over the national team, he made drastic reforms to the German team's tactics. He went against Germany's traditional conservative tactics and instilled an offensive philosophy into the team. Many of these tactical reforms have been underway for more than a year and have initially produced some results. If other famous coaches come in at this time and reset it, it would mean that all the previous reforms of the German team would be in vain. Not only does it waste time, it also makes the team members feel at a loss as to what to do. More importantly, the World Cup is not far away, and there may not be enough time for the new coach to build a new tactical system. Therefore, German football chose Löw for the sake of stability. After all, Klinsmann's tactical reforms were almost all completed with the help of Löw.
Choosing Löw to take over the team can at least ensure that the team remains consistent in tactics and avoid frequent changes in orders. Chinese football has suffered losses many times due to its eagerness for quick success and instant benefits, especially during Gao Hongbo's first tenure. The Chinese national football team under Gao Hongbo does not have any big-name stars, but is made up of young people. However, these youngsters have solid skills and are resolute in executing the tactics assigned by the coach. They will not question or challenge the coach's authority like the old hands and ball tyrants. Under the guidance of Gao Hongbo, the Chinese national football team learned from Spanish football, adopted the passing and controlling techniques, attached importance to ground passing, and encouraged players to be bold in passing and daring to take action. The players are united on the court, cooperate well, dare to fight and fight hard, and often perform eye-catching passing and cutting combinations in the game. In the East Asian Cup match where the Chinese national football team defeated South Korea 3:0, the team relied on excellent ground coordination to defeat the South Korean team and broke the curse of Koreaphobia. This Chinese national football team even defeated France and tied with Germany in the warm-up matches. However, just when Gao Hongbo had completed more than half of the reforms to the national team and the team's performance was gradually improving, the Football Association suddenly replaced him with a big fake Camacho. This decision not only overturned and reset everything that had happened before, but also made Gao Hongbo and the players' efforts in the past few years completely in vain. It also interrupted the upward momentum that the Chinese national football team had finally seen, and even caused it to take a sharp turn for the worse. Camacho, the so-called "world famous coach", had a terrible record in leading the team, and even suffered a tragic 1:5 loss to the Thai team. In 2013, the Chinese team was not as bad as it is in 2024. The shock and impact caused by the 1:5 loss to a weaker Thai team is even greater than the current 0:7 loss to a much stronger Japanese team. All I can say is that when it comes to not doing anything about human resources, the association never disappoints. Compared to them, the German Football Association is much more normal. ...The Germans are busy changing coaches, while the Chinese are just watching the show. "Tsk tsk, I never thought that the German team's head coach would be kicked out in a warm-up match. It's really a sin to think about it!" "It's all Lin Feng's fault. If it weren't for his hat trick, Klinsmann wouldn't be out of work now (funny)!" "Indeed, this matter is all Lin Feng's fault. He didn't know how to restrain himself and give the Germans some face. It was so rude (side-eyed smile)." Although the results of the warm-up match cannot be taken too seriously, the fans are still very happy. No matter whether it is a warm-up match or not, even if the German team sent their second team, it is a happy thing to be able to beat them fairly. "The German team is ranked quite high. If we beat them, we can get a lot of points, right?" "Of course, this game will add at least ten points. If there are more games like this, the points of the national football team will rise rapidly. I'm afraid it will really catch up with the Korean Super League!" "Haha, who will be the next opponents for the Chinese national football team in the warm-up matches? I heard they will go to Europe for training next month?" "It seems so. It is said that Serbia and Bulgaria have been invited." "The strength of these two teams is average. It's so boring to play against them. Can we invite traditional European powerhouses such as France, England, Italy, etc. to help us get some points?" "You are getting too cocky. It was pure luck that we won against the German team this time. There is still a big gap between us and the German team in terms of hard power. If we really meet the French team or the Italian team, I am afraid we will lose everything!"
"Team England: Why don't you mention my name? Don't I deserve a name?" "You know what, if the Chinese national football team meets the British team, they really have a chance of winning, but against the other two teams, there is no chance at all." The fans have sharp eyes. Although the British team sounds impressive, its actual record is mediocre. At least compared to their arch-rival Germany, the British team's record is like a roller coaster, not stable at all. The German team has at least made it to the World Cup finals every time and the knockout stage every time. Championship, runner-up and third place are commonplace, and their worst result is the World Cup quarterfinals. Compared with the German team, the British team often fails to even make it to the World Cup finals, which is the same problem as the Chinese national football team. As for why people think they are as strong as Germany, Italy and France. That’s because the British media likes to brag! After all, English is the world's universal language, and as Britain was once the world's hegemon, it has a huge advantage in public opinion propaganda. The reporters on Fleet Street were very good at creating stars. Whenever there was a slightly outstanding player in the UK, they would immediately hype him up as a world superstar. Perhaps influenced by this, the values of Premier League players are generally inflated, especially British players, whose values are even more seriously inflated. …… After the friendly match with Germany, the national team announced its disbandment. The players went back to their respective homes and looked for their respective mothers. Since the national team this time mainly recruits players who have studied abroad, except for a few players such as Li Weifeng and Xie Hui, others do not need to return to China and can directly report back to the club. Before leaving, Lin Feng took his trophy - the match ball used in the match against the German team, found all his teammates and asked them to sign their names on the football. After all, this was his first hat trick for the national team, and it was scored in such an important game against Germany. You must preserve it well and keep it as a souvenir! Although Krauchen is not a member of the national team, Lin Feng still asked him to sign it. "Coach, how is your talk with the Football Association going?" It has been so long since the World Youth Championship, but there has been no progress in the National Olympic Team, which has made Lin Feng and other national youth players curious. Hearing Lin Feng's question, the other teammates of the National Youth Team also pricked up their ears, waiting for Krauchen's answer. "Haha, as you Chinese say, you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. This matter can't be rushed. Just wait and see!" Krauchen chuckled and didn't want to say more. The Football Association has not given up and wants to push local coach Yin Tiesheng to lead the team. But the players and senior management are more supportive of Krauchen, so there is also a lot of resistance to this matter. Since the Olympics are still two or three years away, just delay it until it can't be delayed any longer. Things will eventually have a result. Although the matter of the National Olympic Team has not been concluded, Krauchen is in a very good mood. Although he did not lead the team to win the game, he couldn't help but puff out his chest with pride when he saw so many young players in the team who he had trained.
It’s a pity that I’m a bit old. After leading them to the Olympics, I will probably go home to retire. If he were ten years younger, the old man would really want to coach the Chinese national team. He really wanted to see how high these young people could grow. (End of this chapter)