It's a bit of a pity. Even if you're not a German fan, there's always a sense of relief to see Germany buck the trend and return to the top ranks this year after last year's trough and gradually being thrown out of the ranks of the world's top teams. Germany is the team with the best results in European football, without one, having won the World Cup four times and the European Championship three times, beating Italy, France, Spain and other strong teams. So this time they were eliminated by Spain in the European Championship and withdrew from this European Cup, which is more or less regrettable.
Crucially, Germany also has a sensitive identity, the host.
The hosts' results are undoubtedly eye-catching, and even if you're not a fan of them, you can feel the pressure on them. Playing at home, surrounded by the expectations of the fans, although there is a certain bonus advantage, on the other hand, it also means a higher standard. Therefore, the identity of the host is also a double-edged sword. Specific to this quarter-final, in fact, Germany has been playing very tightly and can't let go, on the one hand, it is afraid of the speed and impact of the Spanish winger, on the other hand, it is also too much pressure, resulting in technical deformation and unable to keep up with the rhythm.
In the past, Germany was known for its spiritual attributes, good at fighting tough battles, and extremely strong in psychological quality. In this game, in fact, there was more or less reflection, after all, Wirtz equalized in the last minute of regular time. But in extra time, Spain came to a stoppage-time winner who made Wirtz's goal almost unnecessary to talk about.
Did it feel wrong to see Germany fall in the quarter-finals? Seriously, this is not just about Germany's own tradition, this 1:2 has finally broken the barrier of results of Europe's top teams as the host of the tournament for more than 30 years.
Isn't this sentence difficult to understand? To put it simply, in the past 30 years, if the top European teams have been the hosts of the World Cup or the European Championship, their results have been the worst of the top four. For example, in the 1990 World Cup, although Italy did not reach the final, it at least reached the semifinals; England also reached the semi-finals of the 1996 European Championship; In the 1998 World Cup, France won the championship; At Euro 2000, the Netherlands went all the way to the semi-finals, but at least reached the semi-finals. In Euro 2004, Portugal was defeated by Greece but at least reached the final. In the 2006 World Cup, Germany finished third. At Euro 2016, France lost the final on home soil, but at least finished runners-up. Euro 2021 does not have a fixed host, but the final was played at Wembley, with England also being the host and finishing as runners-up.
Look, is it that the top strong team is the host, and the bottom line is the top four? It can even be said that the top teams have set a performance barrier for themselves, and the worst cannot be blocked out of the top four.
But with Germany being eliminated by Spain and stopping in the quarterfinals, this barrier collapsed in an instant.
It's hard to imagine that a team like Germany, holding a major tournament on its own doorstep, can't even make it to the semi-finals. Previously, Germany had hosted the 1974 World Cup, the champion; hosted the 1988 European Cup, the semi-finals; Hosted the 2006 World Cup, third place. And now, they have fallen below the lower limit.
Regret to regret, in the final analysis, Germany still has not been able to return to its peak state, look at the current world rankings, even if Germany is a first-class team, it is also first-class. However, there is no denying that with the fierce competition in European football today, there is still a possibility that a top team will be kept out of the last four if there are top teams as hosts. So this time Germany just set a precedent, and in the future, the host strong team really has to be careful.