The vote for Germany’s Team of the Year was likely only ever to produce one result. Since 13th July, it’s been quite clear that the Germany national football team would come away with this title. The DFB-Team won the trophy at the biggest sporting event of the year, beating Argentina 1-0 in the World Cup final after extra time, an event that was watched by over 36 million people in the country with a 95 percent market share, the biggest in German TV history.
Sporting director Oliver Bierhoff stated that the team is more or less the “fourth power in the state”, and that they were always going to be the Team of the Year. Germany have now been given the accolade on ten occasions, a record amount. They won it in each of the three previous World Cup winning years, as well as after every title success apart from EURO 1972.
On top of that, guest of honour at the gala in Baden-Baden manager Joachim Löw achieved something historic with his side in Brazil. On the way to earning a fourth star, Germany beat hosts and record champions Brazil 7-1, the biggest semi-final win in World Cup history. They also became the first European side to win the tournament in one of the Americas.
The DFB-Team players also earned more respect and liking through their performance at the World Cup. They presented themselves as a unit that wasn’t to be taken off course by their injury problems ahead of the tournament. They proved to be fair sportsmen and showed humility and compassion, particularly after Brazil’s sporting humiliation.
Gauck: "This fourth star shines particularly bright"
In the months that followed, it felt like we’d seen winning goalscorer in the final Mario Götze, potential Ballon d’Or winner Manuel Neuer, captain Philipp Lahm or leader Bastian Schweinsteiger on the red carpet more than we had seen them on the pitch. The DFB stars were at the Bambi awards, on numerous TV shows looking back at the year or even in cinemas in the film “Die Mannschaft”.
Federal President Joachim Gauck and big football fan Chancellor Angela Merkel also got involved too, awarding the team with the Silver Laurel Leaf at a ceremony in Berlin. “This fourth star shines particularly bright,” said Gauck, who praised the “we-feeling” that was created and also spoke of a “lasting gift for the whole country”.
“It was and is something very special to become a World Champion as the Federal President,” said Gauck. “All of us in Germany feel like World Champions.”
That’s why the vote could have been abandoned after 13th July, with all due respect to the other candidates. But then again, there’s always next year.
