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Moeller at end of his
rope
German midfielder not happy with his role on team
Posted: Friday July 03, 1998 11:23 AM
Special from L'Equipe, the French sports daily
PARIS (L'Equipe) -- Criticized, maybe even insulted by the German bench,
Andreas Moeller is asking for a little understanding, but seems to
accept his role as a substitute, at least until the end of the World Cup.
Andreas Moeller left the podium where he'd just spent 23 minutes
answering the press. The big-size screen was showing a close-up of his
tense, tired, face on the verge of tears.
The Borussia Dortmund playmaker is making the news, but for once, it's a
torture. It all happened inside the German team, but it also made the front
page of Bild Zeitung, which quoted his wife as saying "Andy, go back home
with me" in its headline.
Michaela Moeller, who was staying in Juan-les-Pins with their two
daughters, went home Wednesday, exasperated, according to Bild, by the way
her husband was treated during the match against Mexico. And she
apparently tried to make him come with her. She was sitting just above the
German bench during the match, and she heard her husband being called
"blind" or a "crybaby" when he was playing.
"I talked with my wife and we can't call them insults," Moeller denied
weakly. "She was really irritated because the coach kept on saying my name.
She told me she'd prefer I go back home and I told her jokingly that maybe
it would be just as well because the situation couldn't be worse than it is
today. I'm a little depressed. But I never intended to go back to Germany."
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Moeller's wife wanted
him to return to Germany after the Mexico match (David Rogers/Allsport) |
A star in Germany, one of the five highest-paid players in the Bundesliga
-- the German league, Moeller is this World Cup's biggest
disappointment. Apart from the goal he scored against the United
States, he hasn't exactly shone.
Can he be the European Champions' boss? This question has been asked for
the past 10 years, and apparently Moeller can't take the answer. "He's
not the team's playmaker," Jürgen Klinsmann said Wednesday.
Monday, after the victory against Mexico, the German captain told
Moeller, in the locker room, that "now, they're all against you." All
meaning the press, the public, some of his teammates, who can't stand his
whims anymore, and his coach, who's harshly criticized him. "Some people
have problems with ice or snow, others with heat, still others have a
mental block when they are substituted for," Berti Vogts said.
"I don't have a mental block," Moeller replied. "I went in when we were
up 1-0 and we still won the match 2-1. But on the pitch, I'm yelled at so
much that I don't know where I stand anymore. Maybe the coach is trying to
provoke me, but is it appropriate to criticize someone so harshly? I need
to be supported, encouraged. Any player who ends up in this situation needs
to be helped and the coach has a role to play in this. I'm not happy with
some of the things that have been said in public. I've played for this team
for a while and I think I've brought something. But since that bad half
against Yugoslavia,
I can feel a strong hostility, and that's disappointing."
And it's true that with 30 goals in 82 matches, Moeller is the most
efficient midfielder in German soccer history. But today, things have
changed, Moeller is the victim of his reputation, that of a prima
donna, a player who's incapable of putting himself into question. Vogts, as
well as Oliver Bierhoff, prefer Thomas Hässler, who's started in his
place since the match against Yugoslavia.
In a very short time, the sure starter has become a substitute whose only
hope is "maybe another shot" before "going on holiday and thinking only of
Borussia Dortmund." The 30-year-old player apparently considers retiring
from the national team after the World Cup.
Copyright 1998, L'Equipe
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