Germans Ridicule Argentina During WC Celebration

• ESPN FC, Wednesday, July 16, 2014 2:53 PM

The German media has questioned a celebratory dance carried out by six of Germany’s World Cup-winning members during the team’s celebrations at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Tuesday, claiming that the dance belittled Germany’s World Cup final opponent, Argentina.

In front of the crowd of 300,000, Andre Schurrle, Mario Goetze, Miroslav Klose, Toni Kroos, Roman Weidenfeller, and Skhodran Mustafi all entered the stage stooping and singing, "that's how the Gauchos walk," before standing tall and singing "and that's how the Germans walk" -- a fan chant originating from the Bundesliga at the beginning of the century, used to belittle defeated opponents.

On Wednesday, parts of the German media dubbed the performance "Gauchogate" and questioned whether it is right to ridicule an opponent defeated in a World Cup final. "Triumphant national team players: Goetze, Klose & Co ridicule the Argentines," came the headline from Der Spiegel, while Die Zeit called it a, "Ridiculous appearance during the victory celebration." Conservative-leaning FAZ was the most critical: “The celebrations at the Brandenburg Gate turned into a gigantic own goal," the paper said, adding: "the German world champions jeopardized their image as an open-minded, tolerant nation."

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