Germany's 12-year youth project is (finally) close to the finish line

Anyone who watched Germany’s performance in the 2010 World Cup will remember them for two results in particular – 4-1 against England, and 4-0 against Maradona’s Argentina. But what these results also did reveal was the fact that Germany’s excellent youth development system, which was put in place after their poor showing in the Euro 2000, was finally bearing fruit. At that point, it was quite obvious that it was only a matter of time before German football took over Europe.

A few years later, the media frenzy around both German clubs has exploded, after the two biggest Spanish sides in the world, Real Madrid and Barcelona, were humiliated by Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. Real Madrid and Barcelona, while capable of unlikely comebacks at home in their respective second legs, are more likely than not going to be playing their last Champions League games next week.

If the two semi-finals do play out to result in an all-German final, it would be hard to deny that German football has well and truly arrived. The only surprise is the fact that it hadn’t come any sooner.

From losing in the semifinals to the eventual winners Spain in the 2010 World Cup, after topping their group and destroying England and Argentina, it was evident that great things were on the horizon for the team. The average age of that squad was just 24.95 years old, dropping 1.83 in two years from 26.78 years old in the 2008 European Championships, where they finished second, losing out to (no points for guessing who..) Spain. The average age of their squad dropped further to 23.39 years old in the 2012 European Championships, where they were expected to go all the way to the final but surprisingly stuttered against a tactically-adept Italian side in the semifinals.

Funnily enough, Bayern Munich replicated the German national team’s habit of stumbling at the finishing line after dominating opponents one after another in the same time span – losing out to Inter Milan under José Mourinho in the 2010 UEFA Champions League final, and Chelsea in the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League final. It was like they were never going to get to that pot of gold at the end of this let’s-develop-a-young-team rainbow.

But this year, things have finally turned for the better for Germany and their best football clubs. At this point, if the first leg of both semi-finals are anything to go by, it’s hard to envisage a situation where a German club does not win the Champions League for the first time since 2001. And if their recent form is anything to go by, there’s no reason why the 2013-14 European title won’t go to a German club as well.

But if that was the case – one can only hope that the added pressure of being the country with, at the very least, the 2013 Champions League winners, Germany do not stumble at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil as well.

With Bayern and Dortmund hitting their peak at the right time to take over Europe, there won’t be a better chance for Die Mannschaft to bring the World Cup back to Germany, 12 long years after Germany changed it’s approach to the most popular sport for the better.