by Oliver Trust
BERLIN, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Matthias Sammer has drawn a concerning picture of German football.
The 55-year-old spoke of the biggest crisis of the past decades and accused the country's football association of forestalling inevitable progress to secure a prospering future for the sport.
"We are stuck in the biggest crisis and what happens? Nothing, besides us finding all sorts of excuses," the former Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund midfielder said ahead of Germany's friendlies against Japan and France.
Sammer said the association isn't interested in appointing a strong director equipped with the required competencies.
The former Dortmund coach said that appointing Germany legend Rudi Voller and former Stuttgart and Hamburg coach Hannes Wolf is not enough. "I am missing content and structure, and a leading force pushing things and making decisions."
Looking at the results is increasing his concerns, Sammer added.
While the Under-17 team might have won the European title, the Under-21s failed at the Euros, the senior men's national team failed at the last three major tournaments and the women's team experienced a painful group exit at the 2023 FIFA World Cup.
"We, German football, are lying on the ground," the 1997 UEFA Champions League winner stated.
Germany can be happy they are hosting UEFA Euro 2024, as Sammer doubts the team would be strong enough to qualify.
His statements have a special meaning, as the current Dortmund advisor is a member of various task force groups set up by the association around national coach Hansi Flick.
The former German international criticized the association having rejected the option to appoint former Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira.
Due to a poor 2022 FIFA World Cup and disappointing results in friendlies, Flick has come under fire.
The games against Japan and France are said to be a last chance to turn things around for the former midfielder. Media speculate about Sammer as the best solution to take German football back to happiness.
Fans and media blame Flick for his latest squad selection as he left out established forces such as Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller and Leon Goretzka, and RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner.
Instead, Flick called up Brighton midfielder Pascal Gross. Before the summer break, Flick had announced testing had ended and he would announced appoint players looking towards Euro 2024.
Bayern president Herbert Hainer complained about Flick's decision to leave out Goretzka as incomprehensible.
Former German international and Bayern midfielder Stefan Effenberg said that Goretzka is a must due to his experience and performance level over the years.
Popularity ratings among fans have dropped drastically. 87.8 percent of the voters in a survey said their interest in the national team's games has decreased significantly. 77.8 percent named sporting failures as the reason, while 71.2 percent spoke about the damaged reputation of the German association.
