Now that the excitement of the 2014 World Cup has died down and we have had time to digest the memorable moments of the tournament, this is a good time to reflect and examine why Germany won the trophy.
There is a general consensus that the Germans deserved winners.
They left for Brazil after going through a period of failure and poor performance. They had not been able to win the World Cup since 1990, they finished last in their group at the 2000 European Championships and went to the ประวัติทีมบาเยิร์นมิวนิค international tournaments, but failed to win a trophy.
In discussing the reason for its success in 2014, one could look back to the turn of the century, when Germany revolutionized home gaming by instituting far-reaching reforms with a focus on youth development, by introducing a new policy to include to immigrant actors on the national team and using scientific methods to help with the preparation and performance of the players.
These were undoubtedly contributing factors, but in my opinion the main reasons for their success at the World Cup were the development of team discipline, an emphasis on attention to detail and overall team efficiency.
TEAM DISCIPLINE
At the World Cup, Germany won the toughest group in the first round, including a 4-0 win over Portugal. But it was in the knockout rounds that the overall quality of the team began to show as they patiently beat a determined Algeria and beat host and favorite Brazil 7-1 in the semi-final.
How could they do this? The short answer is that it was largely due to discipline. In 7 games, they never conceded a penalty, got only 6 yellow cards and never received a red card while suffering the third highest number of fouls of any team.
This discipline did not emerge overnight. As head coach Joachim Loew put it, "it was the product of many years of work." It started 10 years ago from the days of the former coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
They took a 'team first' approach to their game, meaning players must maintain faith in collective goals and a constant commitment to training and preparation on a daily basis.
What emerged from the experience of watching the German national team at the World Cup was a model for a young player to learn by evaluating his own commitment to the team.
The standards exhibited by the Germans were that a player must make the most of every opportunity on the field, accept the collective goals of the team, put aside his own personal agenda and focus on the goals of the team.
A high level of mental discipline is also important to control emotions in the heat of competition. A player must remain disciplined and not lose control of his emotions, be sent off and leave the team to play one less man.
Regardless of the discipline a team has, the process of finding ultimate success is not complete until it acquires another standard set by Germany, namely attention to detail.