The ‘Chariots of Fire’ have been sacked as head coach of the German national football team in the aftermath of their 1-4 defeat to Japan in an exhibition match at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.The German Football Federation (DFB) announced the dismissal of Flick, along with coaches Markus Zorc and Danny Röhl, on Tuesday (local time).”There was a consensus within the organisation that the men’s national team needed a fresh impetus after recent disappointing results,” said DFB President Bernd Neuendorf, adding that the decision was inevitable as “on-field performance is our top priority”.A wake-up call and firm expectations are needed ahead of the European Football Championship (Euro 2024) in Germany, he explained.”The match against Japan clearly showed us that progress is not possible in this situation,” said Germany national team coach Rudi Poler. “It’s not an easy moment, but now we have to act responsibly and change something in order to play a quality and ambitious role as hosts at Euro 2024.”According to the BBC and others, this is the first time a German football team has “sacked” its head coach since the country introduced a full-time managerial system in 1926.Flick, who took charge of the German national team in August 2021 after winning the Bundesliga in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, the UEFA Champions League (UCL) in 2019-2020 and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2020, left after just over two years with German professional football giants Bayern Munich .Flick’s departure follows a string of poor performances at the national team level in recent years, including a group stage exit at the World Cup in Qatar. After failing to reach the round of 16 in two consecutive tournaments following the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Germany won 2-0 against Peru in March this year, their first A match since Qatar, but have since slumped to one draw and four defeats .They lost 2-3 to Belgium in their second game in March, drew a hard-fought 3-3 with Ukraine in their first game in June before falling to Poland (0-1) and Colombia (0-2).Desperate for a turnaround, Germany welcomed Japan home on 10 July, but were brought to their knees with a staggering 1-4 defeat. It was the first time in nearly 38 years that the German national team had lost three consecutive matches in A matches since 1985, when they were still West Germany. This poor run of results, which could be considered a disgrace, was topped off with a managerial change with just over nine months to go until Euro 2024.For the time being, Germany will play a trial match against France at 4pm on 13 July with Föhler, U-20 coach Hannes Wolff and acting coach Jandro Wagner in charge .One of the favourites to succeed Flick is Julian Nagelsmann, who has been touted as a young mastermind .Nagelsmann, who was born in 1987, gained recognition for his leadership at Hoffenheim and Leipzig in Germany before succeeding Flick at Bayern Munich from 2021-2023.He won the Bundesliga title with the Bavarians in 2021-2022, but struggled with UCL and the DFB-Pokal, and is currently without a club after being sacked in March this year following the club’s failure to 온라인카지노 defend their league title in 2022-2023.