German papers adopt stiff upper lip to hide their despair after Euro 2020 defeat

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As England celebrated the 2-0 last-16 Euros victory on Wednesday morning, the Germans adopted what would be considered a traditionally British stiff upper lip, lamenting their team’s Wembley defeat and tournament ejection while congratulating the Three Lions on their deserved win. 

Gareth Southgate‘s men roared to victory with goals from Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane securing passage to the quarter-finals, finally knocking Germany out of a major tournament and ending 55 years of hurt in the process.

Germany’s media expressed the country’s disappointment, with tabloid newspaper Bild declaring ‘It’s all over, we’re out,’ and Abendzeitung München describing the ‘bitter’ loss.

The frontpage of Berlin-based tabloid BZ lead with ‘0:2 against England: Germany’s coming home’ on Wednesday morning, a reference to England’s ubiquitous football song released before the 1996 Euros ‘Three Lions’.

‘Dear Englishmen,’ a front page editorial by German newspaper Express began, ‘you have brought yourselves a deserved victory against us at Wembley Stadium and ended Joachim Low’s great era. You had the guts that we needed. Good luck for the rest of the European Championship!’

Die Welt went for a sobering single image of Kane scoring past a sprawling Manuel Neuer with the headline: ‘K.O. at Wembley’. Suddeutsche Zeitung ran a photo of Thomas Muller consoling an emotional Joshua Kimmich at the final whistle on its front page.

For many German newspapers, the finger of blame quickly turned towards outgoing manager Joachim Löw, who after 15 years at the helm – in which time he guided the team to a World Cup trophy in 2014 – bows out after the humiliating defeat to a team it had not lost to in a major tournament since 1966.

The front page of Bild’s website showed a dejected Löw walking away from the Wembley pitch. The main headline quoted the manager as saying ‘I was very, very disappointed in the cabin’, while another chronicled ‘Jogi’s last descent as national coach’, alongside a photograph of manager with his head bowed on the team’s coach.

Die Welt’s website also displayed a picture of Löw standing next to his replacement Hansi Flick. ‘Only second rate. And now?’ the newspaper asked, looking to the future of Germany’s national team.  

‘Germany is no longer world class. After Joachim Löw, the rebuilding will now follow under Hans-Dieter Flick. Some players do it, others don’t,’ the newspaper wrote. A second story on Die Welts front page opined: ‘After 15 long years the emptiness comes. Joachim Löw has turned German football inside out.’

Die Welt also looked at Thomas Muller’s vital miss on the 81st minute. Through on goal, Germany’s experienced campaigner had the chance to make it 1-1, but put the shot wide of the post. ‘In the cauldron of Wembley Germany falls behind late, Thomas Müller misses the huge chance to equalize,’ it wrote.

Muller scored two of the goals that knocked England out of the World Cup in 2010.

The homepage of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), Germany’s most internationally read newspaper, bemoaned the national team’s fall from elite status. ‘Once upon a time there was a dreaded tournament team,’ the website read on Wednesday morning in reference to Germany, along with a picture of Löw looking to the floor. 

‘Long before his last game, the national coach was no longer a man who could have made a difference,’ FAZ wrote, while also saying that Muller ‘no longer had the nerve and the strength to shoot the ball where it should have belonged at that moment: into the goal.’

Süddeutsche Zeitung’s homepage simply said: ‘Just deeply sad’, as it gave its round-up of the match. The team, the newspaper said, ha only themselves to blame for ‘for leaving the initiative to the English’. 

With regards to Löw, SZ called his final game ‘A discouraged ending’, with another picture of Löw as he walked away from his final game incharge emblazoned across the top of the website. SZ also showed some sympathy towards its players, noting ‘saying goodbye to the national coach is clearly difficult for some’. 

Prominent German fans were magnanimous in defeat. 

German foreign minister Heiko Maas had bet Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab a crate of beer that his team would win. After the final whistle blew, he tweeted: ‘Congratulations Dominic Raab and England on a great win!

‘A German saying goes, “Wettschulden sind Ehrunschulden” or “betting debts are debts of honour”. So you’ll get your crate of German beer.’

German ambassador Andreas Michaelis said: ‘A much deserved victory. This great competition between England and Germany will continue.’

Former German footballer Jurgen Klinsmann praised England, telling the Three Lions: ‘It’s your tournament.’

However, German Chancellor Angel Merkel may have an uncomfortable week – she is due in London on Friday for talks with Boris Johnson. 

Devastated Germans watching the Euros were drenched by thunderstorms that broke out in Berlin at the moment their heroes were defeated by the Brits. 

Those watching at home were ‘absolutely devastated’ at the defeat, and in a cruel turn of the weather, the heavens opened in Berlin in the minute the whistle sounded.

Photographs from beer gardens in the capital show gutted football fans huddling under umbrellas and outdoor shelters following the loss tonight. 

Bild also claimed that the era of German coach Joachim Löw had ended ‘with what is perhaps his bitterest bankruptcy.’ 

Die Welt put the blame on Bayern Munich player Thomas Müller for ‘burying all German chances of advancing at this tournament,’ adding the ‘end was sealed’ after England’s second goal.

Many German fans were forced to watch the Euros clash from home due to the pandemic, with the BBC reporting the atmosphere in a Berlin beer hall was quiet following the defeat.

Reporter Jenny Hill said: ‘They are completely devastated and actually this is a bang on cue, a thunderstorm has just rolled into the sky above my head here.

‘People were gathered [in this beer garden] to watch that terrible defeat. 

‘They are really upset and I think what makes it even harder for them is that very few people here expected to lose.’

The mood was very different in England, where thousands of Britons spilled from pubs onto the streets of London, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle to celebrate a long-awaited victory over Germany.

Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane led the Three Lions to victory in a tense clash at Wembley, with fans across England now daring to dream that victory may be in sight.

Waves of rapturous applause filled the stadium as Manchester City’s Sterling first slotted the ball home, breaking a 0-0 first-half deadlock. 

Kane swiftly followed up with a neat header – sending his thrilled teammates piling on their captain in celebration as chants of ‘it’s coming home’ filled the stadium. 

The elation spilled into fan zones across England, with Britons proudly draping the St George’s flag over their shoulders as the squad’s first knockout tournament win against Germany in 55 years was secured. 

Crowds in Three Lions jerseys later emerged from pubs and tore through the streets of London, Leeds and Newcastle, with hundreds who gathered in Leicester Square and Wembley spraying beer over onlookers and setting off colourful smoke bombs.   

An estimated 25 million fans tuned in to watch the Three Lions storm to a glorious victory on the pitch, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson who was photographed cheering at a TV set up in the Downing Street gardens. 

All eyes are now on Rome as England prepare to take on Ukraine in the quarter finals on Saturday – with the Three Lions seen as overwhelming favourites to advance.

However, they will have to do so without the stirring support that aided them at Wembley last night as Covid restrictions mean that any UK travellers to Italy will have to isolate for five days upon arrival – making it impossible for fans to fly out in time.

The FA is instead attempting to encourage expats to attend the game with an estimated 30,000 UK citizens living in Italy. The stadium will have a capacity of just 18,000, with England getting a ticket allocation of just over 2,000.

Tickets will be available at the UK embassy in Rome, however, there is no system in place for snapping up seats, leading to fears phone lines will be overwhelmed.

Saturday’s crowd will be a vast contrast to the 45,000 who filled Wembley stadium to watch Southgate’s men outclass the Germans last night – the biggest crowd at an event seen since the pandemic began.

Prince William and Kate Middleton, who also attended, hailed England as lucky royal mascot Prince George saw the Three Lions triumph at his first international football match. After the match, the couple took to their official Twitter account to praise England’s ‘incredible performance’.

George was seen watching the match close to his avid football fan father, with the pair wearing matching suits and England ties. The Duke of Cambridge dotingly explained every twist and turn of the nail-biting match to his son – who is named after the patron saint of England – as they beamed from their box.

Football Association president William threw his fists into the air as his wife Kate clapped demurely when the final whistle blew.