Football | The DFB players are looking for resilience

As Joshua Kimmich, Marc-André ter Stegen, and other German players gradually climbed onto the small platform behind the locker room corridor in the Munich Arena to discuss the 1:2 (0:0) defeat against Portugal, for once nothing went wrong. This had to be emphasized on this unfortunate Wednesday evening, which ended with a completely deserved defeat in the semifinals of the Final Four against the German Football Association (DFB).

So, aiming for a Nations League title won't boost their confidence and, above all, their confidence for the World Cup in a year. Instead, ahead of Sunday's third-place match in Stuttgart, the focus will be on identifying the causes of the bitter setback, after which captain Kimmich was particularly critical. "A lot of things were very wrong. We were too far away from our limits in all areas of the game," he said after his 100th appearance for Germany. "You didn't notice that we had a winning mentality, a certain greed, that we wanted to get to the final." That "didn't happen that often in the past year and a half, that we were so far away from our top performance." Bang!

National coach Julian Nagelsmann's team certainly didn't achieve much. Not even the warm-up, for which the German national team couldn't be held responsible. Ter Stegen had barely begun preparing for his first international match since the 2-2 draw with the Netherlands in September (with a torn patellar tendon) when he had to flee the pitch again because hailstones the size of chickpeas pounded on his head.

In the end, despite the setback, the 33-year-old goalkeeper could at least look back on a successful return. With several saves, he saved the German team from a much heavier defeat. After a long injury, it was nice to be back and fighting for a title, "even if it's unfortunately over early," said ter Stegen. The goal now is to "at least secure third place" on Sunday.

In addition, the German fans were able to applaud a solid debut by striker Nick Woltemade against Portugal and, above all, the nice lead when the German team won the ball in the pressing before Kimmich lobbed it to Florian Wirtz, who finished with a header (48').

But after that, the team "stopped working," Nagelsmann complained, and also indirectly criticized himself when he admitted that "the substitutions could be discussed." He was referring in particular to the triple substitution of Serge Gnabry, Robin Gosens, and Niclas Füllkrug for Leroy Sané, Maximilian Mittelstädt, and Nick Woltemade after the hour mark. After that, at the very latest, a break in the DFB team's already sluggish performance became apparent. The first half was still decent, "in the second half, it was nothing at all," criticized Kimmich, adding that it was "one of our worst games" of the past year and a half.

Kimmich indirectly raised an uncomfortable question: Why were the desire and intensity lacking? Nagelsmann was also particularly bothered by this situation, and he wants to investigate the causes. "Of course, we lack a lot of quality," Kimmich said, referring to the absence of six regulars like Jamal Musiala and Antonio Rüdiger. But for a game without the ball, "you don't need that much quality to bring energy and mentality onto the pitch. That was clearly not enough."

However, it became clear that the German team couldn't compensate for the absence of key players. This was particularly noticeable because, in stark contrast, the Portuguese brought on a wealth of quality players, including Francisco Conceição, who was named Man of the Match. The 22-year-old left Gosens standing before equalizing and scored with a magnificent curling shot after an unhindered 30-meter run (63').

Five minutes later, the German defense again gave up space before 40-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo slotted home Portugal's first win against Germany in 25 years. "What we brought off the bench didn't work at all," said 2014 World Cup winner Per Mertesacker in his role as a ZDF pundit. The team lacked "the depth" to compete at the top of the world. Woltemade will also be out on Sunday. The Stuttgart native joined the U21 team, which is preparing for the European Championship.

As disappointing as the findings were, this isn't the first time during Nagelsmann's tenure that the team has revealed weaknesses. At the same time, they've already demonstrated that they can learn the right lessons and then compete with, and even beat, the top nations. They're now looking to regain the resilience needed to achieve a reliable level despite absences. Nagelsmann said: "We need 100 percent from everyone at all times." That was already a requirement for the third-place play-off.