POPP OUT
Germany were the beneficiaries of what stands to this day as the biggest shock in the entire history of the men’s World Cup: the time they stunned Hungary’s world-famous Golden Team in the 1954 final. That was fair enough, all good and well, but the rules of karmic cash-out meant that a terrible debt at some point needed to be settled. You might have thought that back-to-back group exits for the current shower representing the men had levelled the scales somewhat. But no! The football gods were never going to respond to the demise of teams featuring the likes of Timo Werner, Mesut Özil and Kai Havertz with anything more than a disengaged shrug. It’s simply not enough of a jaw-dropper. When you boil it down, it’s not really a shock at all.
No, what German football did had to be paid for with something seismic. So it was, then, that the bill the lads decadently ran up all those years ago was finally settled by the women, who have found themselves on the end of the greatest shock in the entire history of their big event. Life’s not fair, although exactly how much sympathy Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side – ranked second in the world – deserves is very much up for debate, effectively knocked out as they were by a team 70 places below them in the rankings and one they’d put six past in the opening game. Morocco had begun their final match against Colombia with their dream status hovering not too far above Pipe, but Elodie Nakkach and Ghizlane Chebbak put on a passing masterclass to inspire the Lionesses of Atlas to a famous victory. They’d done their bit, but surely the two-time champions would have too much for South Korea and pip them in the table?
Nope! Germany huffed and puffed for 106 mainly turgid minutes against the Koreans, getting a grand total of three efforts on target despite having 72% of possession. They also rolled out the red carpet for Cho So-hyun to saunter through for the opening goal on six minutes, meaning their performance was little short of an all-round debacle from the get-go. Alex Popp’s equaliser just before half-time briefly looked to have saved their skins, but a mere six minutes and 58 seconds later, Anissa Lahmari was putting Morocco ahead in their game, and that would be the end of that.
“We need to take responsibility and it is clear that I have the greatest responsibility,” lamented Voss-Tecklenburg, for whom the clock may be loudly ticking. Football Daily would therefore like to offer its commiserations to Voss-Tecklenburg and her team … but mainly hearty congratulations to Morocco for making the knockouts on tournament debut. Oh, and three cheers to Hungary as well, for winning the 2027 edition, something that’s definitely going to happen providing we’ve totted up both sides of this karmic ledger correctly.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We had the phone and we started praying. We were praying while we were watching the game. Afterwards it was just a complete explosion of joy” – Morocco’s Anissa Lahmari on the post-match moment when they discovered that the fate of Germany – and themselves – was sealed.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
It seems slightly harsh to take away the exclamation marks from the USWNT (Football Daily passim), who have won four World Cups, including the last two, on the basis of a couple of slightly under-par performances … when the USMNT – who, let’s be honest – have done nothing of note since 1950, and have never suffered the same fate” – Patrick Brennan.
The photos of Hackney Marshes (yesterday’s Memory Lane, full email edition) brought back fond memories of playing there in the 1980s. On one Sunday morning I couldn’t find the pitch my team was playing on because I was still suffering from a hangover after too many beers the night before. When I eventually found the right pitch after about 15 minutes, my team was 2-0 down. I sleepwalked through the rest of the game, which we lost 6-0” – David Crellin.
Heartwarming image of the Pepsi Galacticos with Britney Spears up top (yesterday’s Football Daily, full email edition). I remember her singing about how she was occasionally reluctant to get in behind the last defender: ‘Sometimes I run, sometimes I cry’” – Adam Smith.
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Patrick Brennan.
This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.
