That’s how big the German-English rivalry is in football

 

They are rivals like no other: the German and English national football teams. A historically grown competition, nurtured and nurtured for decades. No other football nation has caused more defeats for England in recent decades than Germany. So you might think: What could be more obvious than hiring a German as national coach in order to learn from the old opponent?

Tuchel is not the first foreigner

But the German-English relationship is a very special rivalry. Because it’s not like Thomas Tuchel is the first foreigner to coach the English team. When the Swede Sven-Göran Eriksson took over the “Three Lions” in 2001, this was seen as a breach of taboo in the motherland of football. The commitment of the successful Italian coach Fabio Capello was also not only viewed favorably.

But a German? This has another dimension, and it’s not just of a purely football nature. Whenever the two teams meet, their clashes take place against a historical backdrop. Even today, during direct duels, some English fans sing the song about the “Ten German Bombers,” who are taken out of the sky one by one – a direct reference to the Royal Air Force’s air combat against National Socialist Germany in World War II.

The Guardian now asked ironically whether Tuchel would sing along to this English song. According to the paper, the allusion was intended to underline how “impossibly strange” his new job seemed due to the historical component. The tabloid “Daily Mail” said that Tuchel’s signature was a “dark day for England”.

Above all, Tuchel’s election illustrates that the proud football motherland does not have a suitable coach for this prestigious position – a circumstance that can certainly offend English football traditionalists. Nevertheless, such headlines point to the special nature of this rivalry, to its sharpness, to its polemics. It is not surprising that this was mostly carried in from the English boulevard. Because the English were mostly the losers.

Their only major title came against the Germans in the 1966 World Cup at Wembley Stadium – the Wembley goal has been a constant ever since: a ball that landed on rather than behind the line and put the Germans behind in extra time. The photo of German striker Uwe Seeler walking off the field with his head hanging, escorted by a police officer, became a symbol of the German defeat.

The boulevard was joking with the Germans

However, it was an expensive triumph. Because the Germans subsequently became an insurmountable hurdle at tournaments. Four years later, the senior Seeler returned the favor with a goal from the back of the head against England in the World Cup quarter-finals. The “Three Lions” were thrown out just like they were at the 1972 European Championships, when the Germans won at Wembley for the first time. They also revealed their neurosis in penalty shootouts for the first time in the 1990 World Cup semi-final against the Germans. And six years later in the European Championship semi-finals they failed again at Wembley against Germany – again in a penalty shootout.

At that time, the tabloid “Sun” printed a cover photo that even some English fans saw as an affront: Paul Gascoigne and Stuart Pearce were pictured on the cover wearing English steel helmets from the Second World War. The line read: “Attention! Surrender” The great Bobby Charlton, captain of the team that won the World Cup in 1966, commented on the tabloid cover: “I’m ashamed.”

In any case, the English tabloids had no inhibitions about making use of anti-German sentiments, as the German Finance Minister Oskar Lafontaine found out a little later: “Is this the most dangerous man in Europe?” asked the “Sun” – and also printed one for Lafontaine’s circumstances paint an unflattering picture. Is this what the most dangerous man in Europe looks like?

The coach Southgate also used clichés

It’s just that it was almost never the players who let themselves get pumped up. The duels between the two selections were almost entirely fair affairs, only coach Gareth Southgate, who was considered so cultured, felt the need to point out the world war in 2021.

But even when blatant injustice happened to the English, the footballers remained sportsmen through and through: in 2010, at the World Cup in South Africa, history from 1966 repeated itself – from an English perspective as a farce, from a German perspective as a comedy.

Frank Lampard hit the underside of the aluminum from a distance and the ball clearly bounced behind the goal line. It is possible that the extended “complaint arm” of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who looked young at the time, prevented the goal from being recognized. England were literally outclassed in this match by a young German team that went on to win the World Cup four years later.

 

Even the “Sun” is in a gracious mood for Tuchel

In any case, Thomas Tuchel did not react to negative headlines, which only show that resentment still exists in some places. The reception for him is rather friendly. Tuchel himself contributed to this with his good work at Chelsea FC and his confident demeanor; The “Independent”, for example, perceives him, like many fans, as an “Anglophile” who appreciates not only English football, but also the culture of the island.

And so Tuchel likes to emphasize his “personal connection” with England; he is, in a sense, an ambassador on his own behalf. However, the new national coach benefits even more from the preparatory work of his German colleague: during almost nine years in Liverpool, Jürgen Klopp not only won over the club and its supporters, but almost the whole of England.

Tuchel’s start is therefore greeted with goodwill. Ultimately it is also due to necessity. Because Tuchel is something like England’s last hope of ending their lack of titles since 1966. The previously snappy “Sun” welcomed Tuchel with a German-language front page: “Football is coming home!” It is the translation of the title of the English football anthem “Football’s coming home”, which was composed for the 1996 European Championship. However, the Germans took the trophy back then.