Joachim hits new low in North Macedonia defeat

Embed from Getty Images

Following a trophy-laden stint at the helm of the German national team, Joachim Löw’s farewell tour hit a new low on Wednesday evening.

Three or four years ago a World Cup qualifying match at home to a European minnow, such as North Macedonia, would have been a foregone conclusion for Löw’s Germany. Times have drastically changed, however, as the once feared giants of world football stumbled in a 2-1 defeat on Wednesday.

On 9th March 2021 it was announced by the German Football Association that current manager, Löw, would step down following the conclusion of the re-organised 2020 European Championships.

Whilst the announcement didn’t come as a huge shock, fans across Germany were saddened to see the man who had guided them to the 2014 World Cup trophy depart, and many hoped that the 2020 EUROs would be a fond farewell exit for their beloved manager.

Yet, many are looking forward to seeing the back of Löw after his side had suffered a downward spiral ever since they crashed out of the 2018 World Cup at the group stage following a calamitous 2-0 defeat to South Korea.

The humbling 3-0 defeat to Netherlands in the following Nations League campaign still couldn’t shock Germany into life as two years later they were embarrassed 6-0 by Spain in Seville.

Considering that the Spaniards have hardly been themselves in recent times either, the rout exemplifies the torment with which Germany are suffering of late.

Following the announcement that Löw would leave in the summer, Germany began their World Cup qualifying campaign well, comfortably defeating Iceland 3-0 before grinding out an important 1-0 victory away at Romania.

The frustration of the past couple of years seemed to be behind them, only for the team to come crashing back down on Wednesday evening – a 2-1 defeat to 64th-ranked North Macedonia possibly being the most embarrassing of all their failures.

Ilkay Gundögan’s second-half penalty seemed to have saved the home side after they had trailed at half-time to a Goran Pandev opener. This was a false reprieve however, as a deflected strike from Eljif Elmas in the 85th minute marked another German disappointment.

Embed from Getty Images

It must be noted that North Macedonia are a side on the rise. Macedonian talisman, Goran Pandev was the man to clinch his country’s first ever berth in a major tournament after his 56th minute goal against Georgia sealed qualification for the European Championships via the new Nations League play-off.

However, the side from Eastern Europe will be definitive underdogs in the tournament next June, and a quality-laden Germany squad should have put them to the sword.

Possessing arguably the most in-from midfielder in European football in Gundögan, as well as the likes of Timo Werner, Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane, Kai Havertz, Leon Goretzka, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and Joshua Kimmich – Löw had a plethora of talent to turn to that could and should have ripped apart the Macedonian backline.

Of course, Löw shouldn’t take all the blame, if Werner had converted with an open goal in front of him just minutes before the devastating winner, Germany may have been leaving the international break with nine points from nine.

As it happens, however, Germany will head into their EUROs group stage off the back of one of the most embarrassing losses in their history; and with France and Portugal awaiting in the ‘group of death’, things couldn’t look bleaker for Löw on his farewell tournament.

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt

[columns]

[column size=”1/2″][blog type=”timeline” posts=”10″ cats=”52″ heading=”Germany” heading_type=”timeline” /][/column]

[column size=”1/2″][blog type=”timeline” posts=”10″ cats=”15″ heading=”Internationals” heading_type=”timeline” /][/column]

[/columns]