In Greece, people once went to the Oracle of Delphi when they wanted to know about their future. However, the prophecies were often puzzling and misleading, and despite generous donations to the institute, some people seeking advice were no smarter than before. The extremely rich Lydian King Gyges, for example, who wanted to be confirmed to be the happiest man on earth, received the information that the have-not Argelaos, who came from an insignificant cow village, was even happier. Gyges, of course, couldn’t do much with that.
Fortunately, it’s easier these days. You go to the elephant “Yashoda” in the Tierpark Hagenbeck in Hamburg, ask her who will win the round of 16 between England and Germany – and immediately get a clear answer: The winner will be the DFB-Elf, Yashoda announced by joining her Trüssel took a German flag out of the wicker basket. Suspicion of manipulation is superfluous – the elephant had correctly predicted all tendencies during the preliminary round, in the draw in the third game she grabbed the flags of both teams. Your visionary abilities are thus scientifically proven.
If you win, you would continue against: Sweden or Ukraine, then the Czech Republic or Denmark
Yashoda has not yet disclosed any information about the future of the German team, but many football fans in this country will probably no longer consider this to be necessary. One look at the tournament table is enough for them to take a visionary look themselves. Accordingly, Wembley seems to be a kind of bottleneck on the way to the final. If Joachim Löw’s team left the English behind them in the round of 16, a promising perspective would open up.
Then in the quarter-finals in Rome you would face the winner of the game Sweden against Ukraine and in the semifinals – again in Wembley – either the Czech Republic or Denmark. In the other half of the field of participants, for example, Belgium with the powerful stars Lukaku and de Bruyne and the apparently invincible Italy face each other.
There is no greater sin in football than to think of the next but one in front of the next opponent, let alone the one after next. Some big clubs that thought they were cup finalists before the semi-finals against a second division team have bitterly regretted it afterwards and perished from their disappointment. But the national coach Löw can save warnings about the arrogance for later (if there is one later). The prospect of the presumed jackpot game in the magical Wembley temple should generate enough tension for every individual, even without warning hints.
The younger German players could also book a history lesson with their world champion colleagues. The life-threatening experience that the players now had in the 2-2 draw against Hungary was their ancestors’ ancestors in 2014 in the round of 16. The encounter with Algeria in Porto Alegre almost was the trap on the way to the final in Rio de Janeiro. Many participants later said that the most difficult obstacle before winning the title was not the final opponent Argentina, but an extremely tough and dangerous Algeria.
European championships offer outsiders better chances than world championships
Manuel Neuer saved his team in the double role of the goalkeeper playing libero, like a super firefighter he swept across the square and put out the fires. This game was a pleasure for Neuer and a cleansing experience for the team. Then they were sharpened for all other tasks. But would that also be the case this time if, after a revival experience at Wembley, it only went against Sweden and Denmark? Only Yashoda could already know.
European championships offer outsiders better chances than world championships. The winners honor lists include Czechoslovakia, Greece and Portugal, and the first encounters in the round of 16 demonstrated the pitfalls of this competition: the Italians and Belgians marched through flawlessly, the Dutch fans who went to the Celebrations came to Budapest, returned home in a funeral procession after the defeat by the Czech Republic.
There are even fewer certainties at this tournament than at previous events, the extraordinary circumstances of the exhausting Corona season offer even more space for imponderables and coincidences – and the outsiders probably an additional chance. So far it is not clear whether Löw’s Germany is one of the favorites at all, but should they return home from the island as winners they would inevitably be a top favorite.