DFB sports director Rudi Völler stumbles into the populist portal

DFB sports director Rudi Völler stumbles into the populist portal

The German national soccer team's crisis worsens once again after the 2-0 defeat against Austria. Around seven months before the home European Championship, national coach Nagelsmann is questioning everything. Things also look bleak off the pitch. As shown not least by an appearance by DFB sports director Völler.

Almost exactly a year after the botched World Cup opener against Japan in Qatar, the DFB and its national team figurehead continue to explore the depths of the association's biggest sporting crisis. The 1:2 (1:0) in Doha was followed by the World Cup exit and a turbulent 2023 with three national coaches and only three wins.

The desolate state of the DFB squad is also reflected in the association's actions off the pitch. There, the DFB and its president Bernd Neuendorf duck away on important issues surrounding the decisions orchestrated by the all-powerful FIFA President Gianni Infantino regarding the 2034 World Cup.

There, off the pitch, the DFB also blames the sporting crisis on external circumstances. National coach Julian Nagelsmann sees his team in a "victim role" at the end of the year, into which a "critical media landscape" also wants to "push the DFB eleven into a bit", as the 36-year-old explained after the shockingly poor game against the Austrians (0:2) in Vienna.

He, who promised the team support through a simple system, is now also complaining about the circumstances, for which he is in fact not responsible. The DFB players are only in the international class in a few positions, the national team's self-confidence is at rock bottom, the full-backs have left the country. There are hardly any left, says Nagelsmann.

Rudi Völler shows himself in the populist portal

In the run-up to the debacle in the Ernst-Happel-Stadion, sporting director Rudi Völler also appears on his friend Waldemar Hartmann. What a nice revival. The two have shared a history since the "lowest of lows" days in Iceland. The video of the interview in Reykjavik in September 2003 is a much sought-after classic of international match history.

Völler, national coach until the summer of 2004, has been back at the DFB since the beginning of 2023 after the hasty analysis of the Qatar disaster. Primarily as sports director and occasionally as interim national coach. 20 years after Iceland, Hartmann has been on the right-wing populism portal Nius since the start of the 2023/2024 season with his "Waldi's Third Half" format. So far, he has not attracted much attention.

Völler's appearance, recorded the day after the 2:3 against Turkey, rounds off the miserable picture of German soccer in these November days. Although the sporting director did not enter into any populist debates in his conversation with Hartmann, his appearance alone was used by the portal launched by Julian Reichelt, among others, for riotous agitation. It is not known whether Völler, who appeared in official DFB clothing, knew where he was appearing. It is said that the interview itself was not specifically coordinated with the DFB.

"Intolerance" and "deficits in integration policy"

"Rudi Völler says what everyone is thinking: 'Our German colors should simply take center stage again,'" the self-proclaimed "voice of the majority" headlined its commentary. They mercilessly exploited Völler's interview, which could at best be described as a blunder. Thanks to the benevolent help of the DFB sports director, they thus served the prevailing narrative of those populists who, like the FDP Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai, had identified "failures and deficits in integration policy" in the whistles of the Turkish fans against the DFB team since the derby defeat against Turkey.

BVB managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke had also accused the Turkish national team fans, many of whom had traveled from Germany, of "intolerance" due to the loud whistling against DFB captain İlkay Gündoğan, who is of Turkish origin. While it is not known how often Dijr-Sarai visits a soccer stadium, this question should not arise for Watzke. He knows the passion of the fans and should not be surprised by the displeasure of the spectators. Everything that happened on Saturday in the final stadium of the European Championship was entirely within the context of a heated soccer match, a derby.

Gündoğan unintentionally summarizes the overall situation

At the 0:2 in Vienna, Völler and Watzke were now sitting side by side in the Ernst Happel Stadium. They heard the whistles of the Austrian fans during Germany's national anthem. They could not be heard from the supporters of the Turkish team during the defeat against Turkey. Later, the Austrian fans sang: "The DFB is so fucked". Rarely has a mocking chant been more fitting. Völler and Watzke were witness to a debacle that will hang heavy over the preparations for next year's European Championship in the coming months.

The tournament is being hosted by an association and in a country where all parties are doing everything they can to align themselves as best they can with the great mission statement of Euro 2024, "United by Football. United in the heart of Europe". At the end of 2023, the mood in Germany is once again at its "lowest ebb". DFB captain Gündoğan said with regard to the sporting situation: "It couldn't be worse right now. Maybe that's the only positive aspect." That can easily be applied to the overall situation.

1. Rudi Völler, the DFB's sports director, discussed the state of the German national soccer team with Waldemar Hartmann on Hartmann's populist portal.
2. The appearance of Rudi Völler on the populist portal was used to stir up controversy, with the portal accusing the German team of failing integration policies and blaming DFB captain Ilkay Gündogan's Turkish origin for fan dissatisfaction.
3. Hans-Joachim Watzke, the managing director of Borussia Dortmund, also criticized the Turkish fans for their whistling against Gündogan, but acknowledged that it was within the context of a heated soccer match.

Source: www.ntv.de