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Euro 2008
Good Times are Over for the German National Team
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I hope Germany’s players had a good old knees-up after their 4-0 win over Switzerland on Wednesday, because that’s the last good time they’ll be having until after Euro 2008. Joachim Loew has laid down some new rules for his players, and fun is definitely off the menu.
From now on German international players are banned from visiting discos or nightclubs. And when the squad meets up for Euro 2008 they’ll find their hotel mini-bars missing any alcohol of any description. Not only that, but Loew will be watching what the players eat too. They’re banned from using room service and the hotel staff in Mallorca (for the team’s pre-Euro training camp) and Ascona (the team base for the tournament) are under strict orders not to bring anything to the players.
So, in scary Bog Brother style, the German management team will know exactly what the players are consuming as they prepare for the tournament. “Of course we trust the players,” team manager Oliver Bierhff said. “The mini-bar is filled with fruit juices and water.” Now that sounds like a party.
I think it’s ok, wehn the players are disciplined, such regulations are even more helpful, because they don’t get distracted by any way
Posted from 
Poland
I wonder whether this was already the case under Klinsmann prior to the World Cup.
Löw also decided to be more reclusive during the Euros. The team camp in Ascona is pretty much out of touch with the rest of the world. Very different to the World Cup where the team’s hotel was in Berlin and players were free to use their free time to hang out in the city.
Don’t think its too much of a news story to be honest. As Inara wrote, players already adhere to this kind of lifestyle.
What Germany traditionally lacks in flair and skill, she makes up for it in organisation, fitness, and team ethic. I don’t see this year being any different, and it should help to make them a force to be reckoned with.
(Cue the British media publishing stories about the ‘facsist German coach’).
Posted from 
United States
German players have won the most Ballon d’Or awards over the years:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballon_d%27or#By_country_2
So they can’t really be lacking skill – traditionally or otherwise – except in the world of stereotypes of course. 
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It’s not a bad idea. As things stand, most continental players are well disciplined anyway. I remember a while back, Malouda complained about Chelsea’s diet and how scandalized he was that the players were allowed to drink coke.
I have to say, I can’t imagine Loew’s rules going over well with the English NT. They seem to live in nightclubs and live off of booze, if those pics posted at Kickette are anything to go by.
Posted from
United States