The Curse of Defending Champion Continues in Russia
Germany fans all around the world a few days ago mourned. Came to Russia as a defending champion, Germany is optimist that they can repeat what they achieved in Brazil four years ago. Moreover, they joined in a group that relatively easy. They were in group F with Sweden, Mexico, and South Korea. But, they could not go through to the knock-out stage.
The signs of the so-called curse for the defending champion already seen in their first match. Shockingly, they lost 1-0 to Mexico. After that defeat, hope is shines back in the second match. They were able to defeat Sweden by 2-1 with a late-goal winner from Kroos. This win definitely made their chance to avoid the curse was open. With South Korea as their last opponent in the group stage, the chance was as wide as a highway. South Korea lost in their 2 matches, so Germany in theory could beat them easily. However, the fate said otherwise. In yet another shocking match, Germany lost 2-0 from South Korea. That defeat was even more painful because South Korea scored those 2 goals in stoppage time (90+2' and 90+6'). With that result, they failed to go through to knock-out stage for the first time since 1938. So, the curse continues.
As we know, Germany is not the first country that affected by this curse. Since the millennium era, there are 3 countries that already taste this curse. France is the first one on the list. After they won the World Cup in their own home in 1998, they failed to advanced to the next stage in World Cup 2002. Italy was the second country that suffered the same fate in 2010 after their victory in World Cup 2006. Then, there was Spain that also failed to go through in World Cup 2014.
(Photo: Meghnad Bose/The Quint)
However, Brazil managed to avoid the same curse in 2006 even though they stopped in quarter-final. Either it was just an anomaly or this curse is just only a myth, no one knows. But what we do know is that the defending champions is not automatically become favorite in the next world cup. The demands to perform perfect and defend the title turn out to be a heavy burden that harms the team. Complacency or decreased motivation are other factors, so early elimination becomes possible for the defending champion.
Comments
Post a Comment