Berti Vogts is already under pressure during the World Cup build-up—and living in the shadow of his predecessor, Franz Beckenbauer. If Beckenbauer is the "shining icon," Vogts is the honest grafter who clings to old-fashioned ideals. Yet those ideals are a thing of the past in the 1990s; the "Me, Inc." mentality has taken hold of professional football, displacing community and cohesion. Because Vogts refuses to cooperate with the *BILD* newspaper, the paper paints him as a loser and a failure—an image that takes root in the public mind. Consequently, Vogts retreats into forced optimism and promises to win the title.

Franz Beckenbauer monitors the performance of the team and the coach for a TV broadcaster while staying in touch with "his World Cup winners" in the US—particularly Lothar Matthäus. This increases the pressure on Vogts and the unrest within the squad, which is increasingly fracturing into three camps: the veteran World Cup winners led by captain Matthäus, the young players around Effenberg, and the players from the former East Germany, Sammer and Kirsten. Further conflict arises from the players' wives, who—to Vogts' annoyance—seek to be close to their husbands. Stefan Raab's satirical song causes the players to lose respect for their coach.

Vogts seeks to halt the team's disintegration by giving the players plenty of leeway, but in doing so, he loses control. He loses faith in captain Matthäus and finds himself constantly putting out fires. When Effenberg gives the fans the middle finger during the match against South Korea, Vogts kicks him out of the squad. The team turns against him, and the media begins discussing Beckenbauer as a potential replacement. Consequently, the Round of 16 match against Belgium becomes a make-or-break game for Vogts; Germany wins convincingly. Some are already picturing themselves in the semi-final against Italy, but Bulgaria awaits first.