Deutschland: Why Didn't You Believe In Yourselves?

Germany defended very well and held out a rampaging Spanish team for 73 minutes. Yet, why did they have to defend for so long? Why couldn't they take risks? Why didn't they believe in themselves?

Germany allowed Spain to dictate the game and sat back waiting for Spain to make errors. They forced the Spanish into errors but refused to attack. They gave the ball away from free-kicks and failed to counter. They didn't press the Spaniards and put enough pressure on the Spanish defence.

What a difference youth makes. Piotr Trochowski is no youngster; in young Thomas Mueller's absence, he failed to move forward and provide anything besides a shot that troubled hardly anyone.

Mueller: Germany missed you today.

Lukas Podolski and Trochowski preferred to sit back; Miroslav Klose was the only one who attacked. Mesut Oezil's inability to hit the back of the net this entire tournament from inside the penalty area was there for all to see: He preferred to dive rather than hit the back of the net. He allowed Sergio Ramos to take the ball away from him rather than shoot from inside the area.

Following Spain's late goal, Germany started to attack wildly. If they had done so the entire match and believed in their attacking abilities, they might not have lost. Even if they had lost; they would be able to go out with their heads held high. Bastian Schweinsteiger's look at the end of the match said everything. He gave it his all; but in an attacking sense, the wingers horribly failed.

Joachim Loew knew that his team didn't believe in themselves; that is why he brought on Marcell Jansen in the place of a much more defensive Jerome Boateng. And Jansen delivered. The problem was nobody connected with Jansen's lovely deliveries.

Also, Michael Ballack's absence was somewhat missed today. The captain is very good on dead ball situations: His deliveries from free-kicks are fantastic. Schweinsteiger, despite all his qualities, cannot always shoot on target from freekicks. Kroos is a good player; his deliveries were good, but lacked the cutting edge that Ballack's ones have. A Michael Ballack would have tried to shoot at the target rather than a Toni Kroos.

Germany have had a wonderful tournament. Yet, they will leave in the knowledge that they betrayed their own philosophy. Another third place finish or perhaps a fourth place finish will in no way take away the pain of "what could have been".

This team is one for the future. These boys will be back in the European Championships in 2012 to get a hold of the Henri Delaunay trophy. Spain will however stand in the way once again. It seems that the Spanish provide a barrier to Germany in more than one way: Spain gets into the German minds.

As tears flow in Germany and elsewhere; this team will be hailed as one of the future's brightest prospects. Somewhere in Bavaria; Bastian Schweinsteiger and Thomas Mueller will sit next to each other and ponder what could have been. Lukas Podolski will go back to Koln and do some soul-searching as to why he doesn't believe in himself.

The end result might not have been different, but had the Germans played to their abilities, they would be able to leave in the knowledge that if anyone can stop Spain in the future, it's the Germans.

Let's face it. Germany was beaten by the better team. Arjen Robben and Mark Van Bommel will hope that they don't suffer the same fate as their Bayern colleagues. And on a final note, Joachim Loew deserves a new contract despite the fact that he allowed Mario Gomez a chance in the semis. Maybe he is the one who will bring Germany's first major trophy since 1996.

It's time to look to the future with the hope that these youngsters will get stronger and believe in themselves. They can start by taking those third-place medals home by giving Uruguay a good old beating.