Flick denies armband row distracted Germany in Japan loss

The 2022 World Cup where opinions don’t matter…

The 2022 World Cup where opinions don’t matter…

because it is settled on the pitch.

Good on the Germans. The easy narrative here is that they "lost" the match, but that would mean Japan didn't "win" it. The match was not a foregone conclusion that Germany were entitled to win.

Calling the gesture a "distraction" is just a way of belitting it. Personally I think the burden of protest should fall on far more important people than footballers, there are plenty in the establishment profiting from dealings with countries like Qatar, but what protests there are should not be belittled. Workers' rights, women's rights, gay rights etc. all matter.

He can’t say it did impact them and they will focus on the game next time or the woke mob will be after him.

lose/loss situation

Herr Flick and his team lost to the superior players. All ist clear?

Germany proved in the first half that they could dominate possession. They just couldn’t find the net. Credit to Japan’s stifling defense, which outside of the glaring lapse that led to the penalty, stymied Germany’s shooting, and to the second-half changes by Japan that got them back into the match.

What armbands have to do with any of that, I don’t know. Was Germany distracted? I don’t know. Did they underestimate Japan? I don’t know. What I do know is the result: 2-1 loss.

That result is what German fans will remember, too. A week from now, nobody will care whether the Germans got to wear their gay armbands or not. All the German fans are going to remember is the 2-1 humiliation, which will be even more intense if Germany goes on to lose to Spain.

The objection is to Qatar itself, but there’s no changing the venue at this point. FIFA has nothing if players refuse to play, so players have leverage. Decide what you want, and make the protest count. Don’t know what you want? Then, until you’ve figured it out, focus on scoring memorable goals instead of playing at utterly forgettable protests.

Germany proved in the first half that they could dominate possession.

possession means nothing if you don’t score.

passing the ball from side to side & back to the keeper, just for the sake of keeping possession ?

Bob Fosse

Herr Flick and his team lost to the superior players. All ist clear?

Japan played in a superior fashion to Germany for that one game, yes. Only multiple games between the two teams would demonstrate which team truly had the superior players in general.

Japan played in a superior fashion to Germany for that one game, yes. Only multiple games between the two teams would demonstrate which team truly had the superior players in general.

That’s not how the World Cup works. You deliver on the day or you go home.