The national team is a reflection of our country

“Even though the elimination hurts: What a game, @DFB_Team! You thrilled our country with your commitment and team spirit at this World Cup. We are proud of you.”
Chancellor Friedrich Merz

The German national team’s latest early exit is more than just a sporting disappointment. It is emblematic of a pattern we are seeing elsewhere in Germany, too.

We talk too much about individuals and too little about structures—about coaches, tactics, lineups, and specific decisions. But when different approaches consistently lead to similar results, the root cause lies deeper.

Germany still possesses immense substance. Strong companies. Skilled professionals. Experience. Capital. A robust SME sector. People driven to achieve.
But potential does not automatically translate into performance. That requires high standards, clarity, competition, accountability, and decisiveness.

This problem is not limited to professional football. It begins early on—for instance, in the environments where children learn to cope with pressure, competition, victory, and defeat.
Of course, sports for children should remain age-appropriate. But when performance and results are increasingly downplayed or treated as unimportant, we cannot be surprised later on when results fail to materialize at crucial moments, and we fall behind or are overtaken by others.

In the past, taking responsibility was a given. At a decisive moment, there was no need to ask who would step up and take the ball; it was a matter of honor.
Today, we too often see the opposite: pressure is avoided, responsibility is diffused, and failure is rationalized or sugar-coated.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s comment on the national team’s elimination also illustrates this issue. Commitment and team spirit deserve respect. But failure remains failure. Sugar-coating failure prevents the necessary analysis.

Germany’s success never simply fell from the sky. It was the result of discipline, the drive to achieve, and a readiness to perform.
We were admired worldwide for this.

“Made in Germany” was never just a label. It was a promise.
We need to take that very promise seriously again.
In sports. In business. In politics.

In the end, the winner is not the country with the best explanations.
It is the country willing to honestly confront its weaknesses, take responsibility, and act accordingly.

Delano Kyles · CEO & Managing Partner