German team: Can they overcome the curse?

In the very first match, the defending champion Germany surprisingly lost 0-1 to Mexico in the opening match of defending the championship at the 2018 World Cup. That made experts remember the fate of the French, Italian and Spanish teams, who were cursed like a curse for European teams: Winning the World Cup last time, failing to pass the group stage of the next World Cup.

Will Germany follow the path of France, Italy, and Spain when they lost 0-1 to Mexico in their opening match? Photo: AFP

Failed to pass the group stage

The 2002 World Cup was held in Asia for the first time. The French team came to the 2002 World Cup with a squad of players in their prime: Patrick Vieira (4), Zinedine Zidane (10). Djibril Cisse (9), Youri Djorkaeff (6), Thierry Henry (12), David Trezeguet...

Surprisingly, they lost 0-1 to Senegal in the first match, then drew 0-0 with Uruguay and finally lost 0-2 to Denmark. The champion France was eliminated in the group stage with only 1 point, finishing bottom of Group A. It was a real shock for the players and the French people, no one believed that the defending champion would say goodbye to Korea after only 3 such stupid matches.

At the 2010 World Cup, the Italian team led by coach Lippi went to South Africa to compete as the defending champion after seeing the obvious lesson of France. They prepared quite well with names like goalkeeper Buffon, famous defenders Bocchetti, Bonucci, F. Cannavaro, Zambrotta or strikers Borriello, Di Natale, conductor Pirlo. Placed in group F with very easy opponents like Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand, but in the end they only got 2 draws before losing 2-3 to Slovakia and leaving South Africa as the bottom of the group.

Continuing to the 2014 World Cup with the golden generation of Spain. With stars shining at the club level like Xavi, Iniesta, David Villa, Spain could not break the curse with European teams winning the world championship. After 2 consecutive 1-5 losses to the Netherlands and 0-2 to Chile, Spain was eliminated early from the group stage. A salvage victory against Australia in the last round only helped them avoid finishing at the bottom of the group like France 2002 and Italy 2010.

The third time is a charm, there have been rumors about some kind of curse on European football teams because in terms of expertise, the reigning champions are not inferior, they are even candidates for the championship.

The fate of the German team

In fact, the German team list to Russia this time is not as famous as the 3 champions mentioned above, they are in the process of rejuvenating the team. But there are still names like goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona), midfielder Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Sami Khedira (Juventus), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich). Surprisingly, despite not making any mark during the past time for both club and national team, midfielder Sebastian Rudy of Bayern Munich is still on the list to go to Russia, which means that Leroy Sane's chance to participate in the World Cup is taken away.

Curse: Won the previous World Cup, failed to get past the group stage of the next World Cup. Photo: internet

It's hard to understand why a player who played so successfully last season with such excellent form like Leroy Sane didn't go to Russia for the World Cup. Shining brilliantly as a winger for Man City, the team that later won the Premier League, 22-year-old midfielder Leroy Sane with his rare speed and skillful technique was voted "Best Young Player of the Season" by the Professional Footballers' Association in England. Sane participated in 33 Man City goals, of which he directly scored 14 times and assisted 19 others, more than any other German player in the top 5 European national championships.

Coming to the 2018 World Cup, Germany is following the path of France, Italy, and Spain when losing 0-1 to Mexico in the opening match. Of course, head coach Joachim Loew still has a chance to make amends if he wins the next two matches against Sweden and South Korea. But don't forget that Sweden is the team that eliminated Italy from this World Cup. With only draws and losses in the last 5 friendly matches, Die Mannschaft is making fans of this team worried.

No team has won back-to-back world championships since Brazil's triumph in the 1958 and 1962 World Cups.

Will Germany fall into the same rut as previous champions or overcome that "bad luck" to keep the throne for 8 years, the 5th time in history to win the World Cup?