There were many signs in the past few months, which showed the upcoming ending of Torsten Frings career in the national team. Now after a conversation with national-team coach Joachim Löw, the national-team career of the defensive midfielder of Werder Bremen is definitely over!
Löw explained his fromer key player Frings, that he wouldn’t be a member of the team for the world cup 2010 in South Africa. Löw warranted his decision with Frings current personal capability and Löw’s planned rejuvenation of the team. Frings was sorely disappointed after the conversation and told german newspapers that he feels in good shape and the he will be still a boost for the team in South Africa.
Löw’s rejection is the end of several discrepancies between these two personalities. In autumn 2008 Frings criticises Löw for his behaviour towards the “veterans” in the national team like Ballack, Klose or himself. Frings said that Löw didn’t appreciate his merits for the team. After these statements Frings wasn’t appointed by Löw for the world cup qualifying-matches.
Instead of Frings, Löw called up Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Simon Rolfes, Sami Khedira and Thomas Hitzelsperger. Löw’s explanation for his call-up was always Frings average performances in the Bundesliga.
But many experts and journalists thought that there were interpersonal problems between the two men.
Frings played his last game for Germany in February 2009 against Norway (0:1 loss). Frings played as a starter for Germany at the world cup 2006 and the Euro 2008. He showed his best performances during the world cup 2006 in Germany, where he played the defensive midfield-position next to Michael Ballack, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Bernd Schneider.
He’s still the captain of Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga.
My Opinion:
Sure Frings is in the autumn of his career and he will never be in the constitution like he was during the world cup in 2006. Since two years he played not outstandingly for Werder, but his perfomances are still OK, and I think well enough for the national team.
I think Löw’s behaviour towards him is wrong!
– No call-up for average or bad performances??
Think of Miroslav Klose or Christoph Metzelder! Löw said during Klose’s crisis that Klose will still be one of his strikers because of his merits for the team. Metzelder was sitting at the stands in Madrid, but Löw appointed him, by saying that he is important for the team because of his experience.
I can´t see any difference between Frings and several other players, who showed some average performances in the past. Rolfes is still injured and Hitzelperger played badly for his club, I think that Frings is still a player for the national team because of his experience and his team play especially with Michael Ballack.
Löw decision was coined by his personal reluctance towards Frings! Hopefully it will be not a bad decision for the team!
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4 comments… read them below or add one
Just happened by chance to come across this site, got me all excited but the stuff seems very dated and not up to news time, barring the frings story of course. I hope i evaluated wrong as i have been searching for such a portal for a long time. being a true bundesliga and german national team officionado i can appreciate you guys effort. on that note, with regards this topic, from what has gone on in the past few months, it is clear that lowe has some issues with frings, lowe has recently stated he will pick players on merit and on that statement alone there is no basis for omitting frings so far in advance. ecspecially when you consider lowe’s alternatives, hitzelsperger, gentner and khederia have all been woeful thus far, maybe khederia has done a little better recently under Gross but aside from Rolfes, injured for a bit, Frings has been the inform german defensive mid, special shout also to thorben marx and the plethora of germans DM’s deployed by schalke. I will give rolfes as the better passer of the two but frings is a quality player and he blends easily with marin, hunt and ozil who all appear as good as ticket holders right now. Hopefully lowe doesnt’ regret these decisions but i would like to think that these events fire up frings even more so as to instigate a change of heart where lowe cannot leave him out. but that seems unlikely because lowe seems a man of his word and pride in the end is a bitch.
…rating Löws latest comments it may be that it will be actually Schweinsteiger who plays in the center alongside Ballack in the WC – since that’s the position he plays in Bayern now. Löw promised him he gets the chance as soon as he finds another right winger (which could be Thomas Müller). Otherwise I agree with u, that Rolfes now is the only true alternative and I was really disappointed that Löw skipped Frings (which had in my opinion a lot do do with interpersonal problems).
Besides, I feel very sorry, because frings is one of the very few good players (besides Ballack, Klose, Schneider and of course Kahn) of a generation which was actually poor of talent, but still managed to have success. And here comes the next golden generation (özil, marin, hunt, müller, boateng, castro, etc.) and I’m hoping very much now that at least Ballack and Klose can win some silverware with them as they are the last two represantatives of this generation who made Germany look good without having many really good players…
He has been very disruptive in the past, and got what he deserved! Any player who puts his own Ego ahead of the DFB Team, doesn’t deserve to be on that plane to South Africa…
There is no doubt the German team is doing good so far, but something is really missing in the midfield, FRINGS… the team misses you, together with Ballack you´re a bomb.Torsten Frings deserves respect and admiration for all the awesome merit he gave to the team. The rest of the world is pleased and so happy for the great football you gave us, you are unique, awesome and very dangerous in the field.