World Cup 2010: 'Thanks, you heroes!' Germany's press hails team
German newspapers predicted a World Cup triumph and labelled the Argentina coach, Diego Maradona, "an over-the-hill gunfighter" after the national team's emphatic 4-0 triumph in the quarter-finals.
The win over Argentina in Cape Town came less than a week after Joachim Löw's side had clinically ended England's hopes in the second round. The latest resounding victory sent the German media – and the public – into raptures.
"Thanks, you heroes!" wrote Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "Unbelievable! Germany beats Argentina 4-0. Four to Zero!" Meanwhile, the paper's normally difficult-to-please columnist Günter Netzer, the former Germany international, could hardly contain himself.
"It was more than a victory, it was a demonstration of 'Ubermacht' [superiority]," wrote Netzer, now a popular TV pundit. "It was one of the best performances from a Germany team that I've ever seen."• Follow the Guardian's World Cup team on Twitter
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Netzer admitted he was wrong with his earlier public doubts about Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski. "I never would have thought they would have played such a strong World Cup," he said.
The former Germany coach Jürgen Klinsmann, who led the team to third place in 2006 and is now a TV analyst, was also full of praise for the team and his successor, Löw. "The team seems to have a lot of fun and that's the base for attractive football – and Jogi is doing an awesome job," Klinsmann told Reuters.
In Germany, millions of fans have packed public viewing venues and were given credit by Löw for helping motivate the team. More than 350,000 watched on giant screens set up in central Berlin. Dropping their normal reluctance towards flag waving, German fans have wrapped themselves in black, red and gold flags and celebrated with an unprecedented level of patriotism.
"Deutschland einig Zauberland [Germany united Magic Land] was the headline in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
"The 4-0 win over Argentina wasn't only due to Germany's dominance on the pitch but also due to Löw's superior tactics," wrote the newspaper's columnist Thomas Hummel. "Diego Maradona looked like an over-the-hill gunfighter in a Western film.
"Maradona was a bundle of nerves before the match, hugging some of the players as if someone in their family had just died. The over-the-top show of emotions might not have led to Germany getting the early goal but it may have helped. The Germans by contrast seemed to be calm and collected from the start."
Other newspapers expressed surprise at the team's strength.
"A dream team," wrote the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "All of Germany is going berserk over these incredible, lop-sided victories over England and now Argentina. Anyone who three weeks ago would have predicted a 4-1 win over England and then a 4-0 destruction of Argentina would have been ridiculed as a hopelessly naive football novice. Löw's team proved against Argentina they are world class."
Welt am Sonntag said Germany must be one of the favourites now. "The title is within our grasp," wrote the columnist Stefan Frommann. "With courage and strength the German footballers were knocking on the gates to heaven. The happy ending for the midsummer fairy tale is getting closer.
"We discovered the 'We are Germany' feeling four years ago thanks to Jürgen Klinsmann. And thanks to his successor, Joachim Löw, we're rediscovering our love for football all over again. The team is soaking up the 'We are Germany' feeling from the fan miles in Germany and using that energy on the pitch."
Frommann noted that Germany's 20-year-old forward Thomas Müller was one of the millions of fans who watched Germany's run to the semi-finals four years ago from a public viewing fan mile.
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