Germans woke up from another Italian nightmare on Friday to consoling words from national icon Franz Beckenbauer and critical questions directed at coach Joachim Loew.
Beckenbauer said in his column for the Bild paper he believed the team "was ready for a first title in 16 years since the Euro 1996 success in England" but that one should not question everything after Thursday's 2-1 semi-final defeat against Italy.
"You should not forget that the semi-finals aren't nothing. Other big football nations such as England, France and Holland would have loved to have been there," Beckenbauer said.
Beckenbauer, who won Euro 1972 and the 1974 World Cup as a player and the 1990 World Cup as a coach, said Germany played below par especially in the first half after winning the first four games of the tournament in commanding fashion.
"The (first) 45 minutes were deeply disappointing. This was not the true German team. The team appeared lifeless at times. Instead of applying pressure with a fast-paced game they let the opponent act in midfield," Beckenbauer said.
Italy led 2-0 from Mario Balotelli's double after defensive mistakes as Germany failed to control the game even though Loew had fielded Toni Kroos as an additional midfielder. The move backfired and the return of Lukas Podolski and Mario Gomez was also to no avail.
Loew made amends after the break by bringing the lively Marco Reus and forward Miroslav Klose. Germany improved but only got a late consolation goal from Mesut Oezil as they failed yet again to beat Italy in a competitive game.
"We showed too much respect. The talk of the Italy curse appeared to paralyse the players," Beckenbauer said.
"I don't want to blame it on the changes of Jogi Loew, even though he corrected his decision at half-time by bringing on Marco Reus."
Others were more blunt.
"Coach Joachim Loew, who preached that his team wanted to enforce its usual game in this semi-final as well, prepared himself and the players for this good, skilful and clever opponent in an extreme way.
"He based his line-up on the personnel and the game of the Azzuri, he changed the line-up of his team and its tactics in a major way - and lost the gamble," Kicker sports magazine said in an editorial on its website.
The Suedeeutsche Zeitung (SZ) struck a similar note but went one step further, questioning Loew's ability to motivate players in deciding matches - following defeats to Spain in the Euro 2008 final and 2010 World Cup semis, and a semi-final defeat against Italy at the 2006 World Cup when he was Juergen Klinsmann's assistant.
"Loew is a conscientious football expert, a developer. But is a competition type? One for titles?" the SZ asked.
"Why doesn't Loew manage to get something thrilling out of his squad in deciding moments."
A national Euro record of almost 28 million Germans watched the game from warsaw on TV, with an estimate five million Germans alone going home in shock from the various fan-zones as the title dream had to be postponed again - to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The team was due to return to Germany later Friday in quiet fashion instead of bringing home the trophy on Monday as Bild simply titled "Finito" and marked out the word "Final."
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