What distinguishes German football from Russian

I think we can do without lengthy discussions about who will play in the Champions League final at Wembley at the end of May. These will be two excellent German clubs. Clubs that know how to play in such a way that no matter who the opponent is, the opponent will not have a game. It will not collapse, will not crumble, will not encounter difficulties, this opponent’s game will simply not exist.

After the football we saw last Tuesday and Wednesday, after the matches at the end of which it’s absolutely unrealistic to just go and sleep, you realize that you’ve been to some kind of carnival. Habitual stereotypes and familiar guidelines are collapsing. The English Premier League remained in one eighth, the Italian Serie A fell off in one fourth. And when the lot did not bring Real Madrid to Barcelona in the semi-finals, it seemed that we were moving towards another El Classico, this time in the Champions League final. With a high degree of probability, we are now waiting for the German Champions League final.

Even five years ago, when I hosted a program on German football “Bundesmanschaft” on Radio Sport, many colleagues said sympathetically: you chose the wrong program, that’s not what it’s about. The German team, of course, is always one of the favorites at every major tournament, although it has not won anything for many years. But club football in Germany is a complete disaster. Where, they say, are the old cars that smashed everyone left and right? They argued whether the championship was the fourth strongest in the country or the fifth.

But the time has come to start up and drive at full speed for the German car. Who rushed into sweeping attacks across the entire field throughout almost the entire game between Bayern and Barcelona? Not the Catalans, from whom it was quite common to expect this.

Who had the strength to put pressure on the opponent all over the field in the Borussia - Real Madrid match until the 94th minute? The team from Dortmund. And the opponent in both cases is simply confused. The opponent runs forward rather by inertia, but without believing that anything can be done.

When Messi at Barca or Ronaldo at Real Madrid received the ball, two or three, or even four at once, rushed at them. It's not just physical condition. This is fantasy and fantastic football.

Have you ever seen Barcelona so humiliated? Real Madrid - so confused? Who rushed into swift and sweeping attacks across the entire field throughout almost the entire game between Bayern and Barcelona? Bavarians. Who didn't pay attention to the presence of a rival? Players from Dortmund.

I don't want to bury Barcelona. Of course, it’s a little difficult for her—she has problems with motivation. When you have already won everything, it is difficult to gather yourself and go out to fight again. But it’s not about Barça - German football is returning to the forefront in earnest and for a long time.

Moreover, at the national team level, he never left! The Germans, it was the Germans who made the whole world fall in love with them at the championship in South Africa, defeating the Argentines and the British in the playoffs with a big score. They easily dealt with everyone at the last Euro. It feels like everything was easy for the Germans at that championship until the semi-finals. Today's German national team is a team of bright individuals, united by certainly the best coach of the new century. This team breathes smoothly, like a healthy organism, not spoiled by any harmful influences.

I admit, on the eve of the Bayern match I believed in the unconditional victory of the Munich team. She is going through the entire current season too energetically, and I don’t see any reason for her to stall. But in the second match, sinfully, I still gave the palm in advance to the royal club. In the Dortmund confrontation, I thought that the hosts had only one advantage - the stadium. Anyone who has been to Signal Iduna Park will confirm: it is simply impossible for guests to play here. When I found myself at this stadium for the first time, I understood what we were talking about: the higher the rows, the steeper the climb. No matter how far you sit, the field is below you, the field is in the palm of your hand. And therefore, for those who are on this field, there is a feeling that you are at the bottom of some giant bowl, and the walls of this bowl sternly hang over you. The sound, repeatedly screening and reflecting, puts terrible pressure on you, on your psyche. And I believed that only this “twelfth player” would be on Borussia’s side. And I was wrong. Because all eleven were real leaders!

I don’t want to talk about the German skating rink. Or relish the hackneyed and tired phrase about a German car. A machine suggests, if not mechanism, then certainly impersonality. But today's German clubs, and even more so the German national team, are teams of bright individuals. Players do not pass to each other - they live. They do not rush to attack - they breathe.

Look at the solitaire game Joachim Loew plays when he assembles the German national team! The coach can choose from several dozen players! We have an extended list of collections - this is the core plus those who need to be shown that the coach is watching you, nothing more. It is in the Russian national team that they reach 23, in the German national team they painfully choose who to refuse for now.

The coach can choose from several dozen players! Müller, Kroos, Reus, Ozil, Neuer, the Bender brothers (at the last European Championship, however, only one of them played - just like the story with our Kombarov brothers), Hummels, Badstuber, Ziehler, Götze, Gundogan, Boateng, Schürrle... How many people with an amazing style of play and unique characteristics do not make it into the national team? Ter Stegen, Draxler, Holtby, Grosskreutz, Marin, Didavi, Leno, Reinartz, Hermann... But many of these who did not make it into our teams would certainly be leaders! That is why Greece is being beaten not by Russia, but by Germany. Any more questions?

Dozens of smart articles have already been written about the gaming advantages of German youth. I want, as strange as it may seem now, to talk about human qualities. These are golden youth, but not in the Russian sense of the word. And they are “golden” not only because of their transfer value. Their character is golden, their non-football behavior is ideal. You can be surprised by this as long as you like, but all German football players of the “new generation” are absolutely conflict-free people. Few people remember any scandals involving them. They are distinguished by one main quality - complete dedication to football. We have somehow become unaccustomed to this.

This was not always the case in German history. Footballers from the national teams of Germany and Germany have always been distinguished by excellent training, but they were often hampered by a lack of imagination. Those who stood out from the crowd for their unconventional playfulness, for some reason always had a bad character. These were Gerd Müller, Netzer, Schuster, Magath, Effenberg, Basler, Matthäus, Klinsmann... Today's people don't argue with coaches, don't get drunk on beer in pubs, don't quarrel with reporters, don't spend time in cheerful and noisy revelries in the company of porn stars .

They don’t even marry fashion models, they don’t buy them, like our other football players, titles of beauties. Almost everyone’s wife is a childhood friend; all the girls are selectively modest and quiet.

They are playing football. And they are sincerely waiting in the wings. And it seems that this hour has already come for German football.

You can be surprised by this as long as you like, but all German football players of the “new generation” are absolutely conflict-free people. Few people remember any scandals involving them. They are distinguished by one main quality - complete dedication to football. We've somehow gotten out of the habit of this.

And sooner or later, these uncapricious geniuses were bound to succeed. And the time has come.