'Over and out': media reacts to Germany's World Cup exit

In Germany

Niedergeschlagenheit (noun, feminine): Despondency

German football fans, who had never seen their country fall at the first hurdle of a World Cup finals before, will recognise it as they pick up their papers on Thursday morning.

Their team, the holders and one of the pre-tournament favourites, finished bottom of Group F after a 2-0 defeat to South Korea on Wednesday.

Bild

Germany’s most popular newspaper is “speechless” as it contrasts its front page from June 2014 – after the national team inflicted a 7-1 semi-final defeat on Brazil on its way to winning the World Cup – with its Thursday edition.

The headline is the same. The story is not.

Die Welt

“Over and out,” says Die Welt, next to a picture of a crestfallen Toni Kroos. He had looked like Germany’s saviour after a stunning late winner against Sweden. But he was unable to haul his team into the second round.

Rheinische Post

The Düsseldorf-based paper is even more succinct. “Out” is its one-word headline.

Frankfurter Allgemeine

The paper calls the defeat “Germany’s downfall”. Like Die Welt, it also contrasts Wednesday’s defeat against South Korea with the hope felt after the last-gasp victory over Sweden looked to have revved-up the nation’s stalling World Cup campaign. Instead, it says, Germany is “back to earth with a bump”.

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Süddeutsche Zeitung

Online, the title accuses Joachim Löw’s team – once arguably the most exciting in the world – of “slow-motion football”.

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Rest of the world

Schadenfreude (noun, feminine): Taking pleasure in the misfortune of others

British football fans, most of whom have seen their country fall at the first hurdle in a World Cup tournament, will recognise it as they pick up their papers on Thursday morning.

The Sun, the Daily Telegraph and the i all go for similar headlines:

There was also a liberal dose of schadenfreude in Brazil, the nation that – as Bild pointed out – suffered its most humiliating footballing defeat against Germany in its home World Cup in 2014.

Readers of O Globo are invited to see images of dejected Germans, while viewers of Fox Sports Brazil are invited to laugh at them.

And Folha de S Paulo struggles to maintain a neutral tone as it reports a South Korean goal.

The back pages of the Times and the Guardian focus on the historic nature of Germany’s humiliation.

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