Our colleague Nicholas Kulish has written a year-end sports piece sure to get folks thinking. “The resurgence of German soccer began, like the country's economic comeback, after a long slide toward stagnation amid dire prophecies of impending irrelevance,†Nick writes.
It may be hard to believe today, but a decade ago Germany was seen, economically, as “the sick man of Europe.†Nick says the epithet could have just as easily been extended to the country when it came to soccer.
How times have changed. Just as superior soccer nations like Italy and Spain have fallen on dire economic times, Germany - economically and on the soccer field - has roared back, taking advantage in both realms of others' weakness to cement its resurgence, including building a whole new infrastructure to train the next generation of soccer stars.
“Where England's soccer analysts bemoan a British league brimming with foreign mercenaries but crowding out local players, German teams have improved with a rising share of domestic players,†Nick writes.
The products of the new factory system were exhibited in striking fashion this season. Germany sent seven professional teams into European competitions, and for the first time all seven advanced to the knockout rounds beginning in the new year.
The three German teams in the hypercompetitive Champions League - Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke - all won their groups. Less noticeable but equally important is the depth and parity in the German game. Teams from the midsize cities Leverkusen (pop. 160,000) and Mönchengladbach (pop. 260,000) were among the four that advanced in the slightly less prestigious Europa League.
The German league has seized the advantage while many clubs in crisis-stricken, austerity-squeezed countries like Spain an d Italy have been unable to deal with deep debts and older stadiums in poor condition. The Spanish team Valencia started the season with an unfinished stadium and no sponsor for the team's jersey, a standard moneymaker in European sports.
Nick concedes in his in-depth analysis that the crowning achievement for German soccer would be a World Cup - and that has not happened since there were two Germanys.
And debt crisis or no, Italy beat Germany in the semifinals of the European Championships title last summer in Poland.
But if investment is the key to future prosperity, and other nations barely have the funds to upkeep the stadiums and teams they have now…the German teams “are preparing for an era of European dominance,†as Emmanuel Hembert, an expert in the business of soccer at the consultancy A. T. Kearney, told Nick. “The time of the German league is coming.â€
Do you agree? And will Germany be able to translate its economic dominance into soccer dominance? And what will that do to relations between the members of the eurozone who are more dependent on Germany than ever?
