The top topic at Markus Lanz (ZDF) on Tuesday evening (June 15, 2021) was the EM 2021. And Olaf Scholz, who had no easy discussion opponents.
In the evening, when the European Championship started for Germany, Markus Lanz and his guests discussed the fleeting nature of euphoria and football metaphors. Well, not quite, but at least that was what you could think of on an evening that began with a narrow but well-deserved defeat for the German national team, a defeat that so clearly demonstrated the playful deficits of the best footballers in the country, the euphoria in the face of every euphoria nipped in the bud one summer with almost no corona and football.
As far as suffocating euphoria is concerned, the Greens’ Chancellor candidate could sing a song, and the predecessor of SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz may have given his successor some tips on how an election campaign does not reach its climax too early.
Markus Lanz (ZDF): Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz is still “serene” because of the elections
It probably doesn’t hurt to be relaxed, Scholz calls his attempt to get things going and not let hope go “cheerful serenity”. Perhaps not a bad tactic, at least the competitor from the left seems to dismantle itself, to undercut the competitor from the right in terms of indolence, is difficult even for Olaf Scholz, so the hope for the SPD lives as well as for the national team.
Ulrike Herrmann, editor at taz, analyzed the state of social democracy, which in recent years has been increasingly losing its former main clientele: the workers. Less than ten percent in elections in the eastern German states, desolate for a people’s party. Whether it is enough to make politics for those who make an effort, as Scholz put it, remains to be seen in September.
Scholz did not want to comment on the game of the German team, there are already too many national coaches in this country, he emphasized correctly, but perhaps, as a man striving for the most important job in the country, he should also dare to think about what feels like the second most important to express.
| Guests | job |
| Olaf Scholz | Politician |
| Ulrike Herrmann | Journalist |
| Ewald Lienen | coach |
| Béla Réthy | Sports journalist |
| Daniel Engelbrecht | Ex-professional soccer player |
Football coach Lienen at Markus Lanz (ZDF): DFB-Elf played too cautiously
Ewald Lienen, one of the most experienced soccer coaches in the country, didn’t mince his words: Yes, the players tried hard, they fought, they made the least of their possibilities. But they are apparently limited: Lienen put his finger in the wound: Why did Germany play with a cautious line-up that produced a minority in the midfield and could hardly oppose the technically brilliant French.
However, it was not the game of the evening that was the main football theme, but the shaken images from Saturday when the Danish player Christian Eriksen collapsed during the game against Finland and only barely survived. ZDF reporter Béla Réthy experienced the situation at the microphone and had to try to find a balance between necessary reporting and voyeurism.
Markus Lanz (ZDF): The soccer game was not continued for the first time after the player collapsed
Eight years ago, Daniel Engelbrecht, a former professional soccer player, had a cardiac arrest during a Bundesliga match and had to be reanimated. He too was appalled by the officials’ decision to continue the game that evening. Ewald Lienen was particularly outraged, who saw the decision as a further example of the power of capital that suppresses any trace of humanity.
Well, that football is ruled by neoliberal structures similar to that of politics, there is no question. However, football professionals are much better paid, while the SPD’s former main clientele has to squeeze. Even if he played an important role in the decisions of the Schröder government as SPD general secretary, Olaf Scholz is of course far too sovereign to admit possible mistakes of his own. It wasn’t enough to score an own goal that evening, as Mats Hummels had already made sure of that the previous evening. It remains to be seen for whom the further course of the tournament can still be designed successfully – for the SPD or for the national team. (Daland Sailors)
