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THE sight of German Chancellor Angela Merkel jumping sky high with reckless abandon after Mario Gotze struck a beauty to win his country its fourth World Cup on Sunday night poignantly illustrated the power of the game of football and its ability to unite the world. Sandwiched between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, Merkel encapsulated her nation’s strong desire to triumph after years of disappointment at the world’s greatest sporting showcase.
Having last won the World Cup in 1990 albeit as West Germany, 24 years seems like a lifetime away and the Germans’ win in Brazil was a result of years of toiling, meticulous planning, drive, desire and a unity of purpose never before seen in the beautiful game.
Germans are renowned for their precision and efficiency and the 2014 World Cup was a stage they used to display their prowess and we tip our hats off to them for deservedly winning the tournament. From the beginning, they were ruthless, mercilessly crushing opponents including a 4-0 drubbing of Portugal, wins over the USA and France and a historic 7-1 mauling of hosts Brazil in a semi-final match which was so one-sided it reduced the Selecao to an ordinary side in front of their home supporters.
Boasting the best defence in the tournament, the Germans also entertained as they played an attacking game that was a joy to watch.
Merkel was easily Germany’s biggest supporter having graced their opening match against Portugal and it was clear that the German government was fully behind their team — lesson number one for other countries including Zimbabwe.
The German players were obviously playing wholeheartedly for their country and wore their hearts on their sleeves and could have literally died on the pitch for the cause. Their body language spoke of a group of players highly motivated to claim the biggest prize in world football and clearly they paid scant respect to big names such as Argentina’s Lionel Messi, Portgual’s Christiano Ronaldo or Brazil’s Neymar.
They played as a team with everyone contributing goals, assists and defensive duties in a collective effort that was the envy of many — lesson number two. There was never turmoil in the German camp and unlike some African teams that were rocked by threats of boycotts and rows over bonuses, the Germany players were clearly focused on the task at hand because the administration issues were sorted out way ahead of the tournament — a lesson in proper planning. Reports say the German technical team has been working with all the teams in the Bundesliga and academies for the past four years, carefully monitoring all German players and taking a keen interest in their development. Youth football centres were established to coach young Germans the intricacies of the game from a tender age.
Zimbabwean football authorities can take a leaf from the tournament in Brazil and plan ahead for the success of the national team. Zifa president Cuthbert Dube, chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze, PSL president Twine Phiri and his CEO Kenny Ndebele were in Brazil where they watched some matches including the final.
Hopefully they can draw useful lessons from there and run the game in a better way when they return. Critics of the current football administrators in Zimbabwe say they have misplaced priorities and some of them are not fit to run the game and the dream of qualifying for important tournaments such as the World Cup will remain a pipedream on their watch. We are inclined to agree with them because Zimbabwean football appears to be regressing instead of improving under the leadership of Dube.
Surely, a football leader who has no time to watch local games but has the audacity to fly thousands of kilometres to watch the World Cup in Brazil has misplaced priorities. Zifa needs to put its house in order so that the dreams of football-mad Zimbabweans are realised. The 2014 World Cup has just shown the people of this country what they are missing out on.
Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi’s dream of bidding for the 2034 World Cup will remain just that if drastic measures are not put in motion to get our football back on track.
Online Reporter