The German Football Association (DFB) confirmed on Sunday that head coach Hansi Flick has been fired after Germany’s embarrassing 4-1 loss to Japan on Saturday. The loss came just nine months before Germany is scheduled to host Euro 2024.
Since the job of Germany head coach was established in 1926, Flick was the first and only person to ever be fired from the position.
Rudi Voeller, the sporting director for the team and the head coach who led them to the World Cup final in 2002 against Brazil, will take over the team’s coaching duties on an interim basis until a successor is named at a later date.
Bernd Neuendorf, the head of the German FA, stated that the dismissal was “unavoidable” in light of the team’s recent string of “disappointing” outcomes.
Neuendorf issued a statement in which he claimed that “with a view towards the European championships in our own country, we need a spirit of optimism and confidence,” and that the decision was one of his “most difficult to date.”
Acrobatic goalkeeping from Marc-Andre ter Stegen was the only thing that kept the score from surpassing the 5-1 defeat that Germany suffered at the hands of England in Munich in 2001. The Germans were brutally trounced by the Samurai Blue on home soil in the friendly that took place in Wolfsburg.
Since Germany was eliminated from the World Cup in the group stage in December, they have played a total of six matches and have now lost four of them.
In June of 2024, Germany will host the beginning of the Euro 2024 tournament.
The home crowd jeered at the German squad during the halftime break, and some of them chanted “Hansi out” when the game was over.
The German national team has a long tradition of being reluctant to make significant changes to the coaching job; Flick’s predecessors have all been retained in their roles.
Flick became Germany’s 10th head coach since World War II when he was appointed in May 2021, one month after Joachim Loew’s stint of 15 years came to an end.
Following his success as manager of Bayern Munich, when he won seven titles in just 18 months, Flick began his tenure as Germany manager with a perfect record of eight wins in a row.
Since then, he has only won four of his subsequent 17 matches and led his team to an early exit from the Qatar World Cup group stage.
After the most recent defeat on Saturday, Flick remained optimistic, telling reporters that he “was convinced of what we are doing” and “wanted to continue” in his role as chief executive officer.
Flick promised his supporters on Sunday at a training session that he would “keep fighting,” but he also acknowledged to AFP subsidiary SID that “many things are difficult to predict” in football. The defeat to Japan occurred on Sunday.
Following the bout, Voeller stated that his emotions were running too high to make a decisive decision regarding Flick’s future.
Voeller suggested that they “collect themselves and sleep on it,” noting that “we are all a little in shock… a defeat like that hurts.” “I suggest we collect ourselves and sleep on it,” he remarked.
After taking over as temporary leader in the year 2000, Voeller guided Germany all the way to the final of the World Cup in 2002, when they were defeated by Brazil by a score of 2-0.
On Tuesday, his first encounter as caretaker coach will be a friendly against World Cup runners-up France in Dortmund. The match is scheduled to take place on Tuesday.