The German national team finished the second week of the FIFAe Nations Series Play-Ins in last place
In mid-December, the DFB duo of Umut ‘Umut’ Gültekin and Mustafa ‘xMusti19’ Cankal finished the first week of the Play-Ins in second place and avoided relegation from Division One of the second European Conference. In the second week of play, Dylan ‘DullenMIKE’ Neuhausen and Kai ‘Hensoo’ Hense went down to the wire.
Five points from 14 games against seven opponents is the sad record that became certainty on Friday night. That haul means last place and a move down to division two – the gap to seventh-placed Bulgaria was a whopping six points. ‘DullenMIKE’ and ‘Hensoo’ won only one game against Scotland (4:1).
Two 0:6 to false start
But let’s start at the beginning: Already at the beginning on Thursday, they suffered a surprising 0:6 (1:5 and 1:3) against the Bulgarians ‘BGsanchez’ and ‘jorjewin’. After the following duel with the Spaniards, the false start was clear – also against ‘Adrimaan01’ and ‘NEAT’ (0:6 after 1:6 and 1:2) nothing was to be gained for the DFB duo.
DullenMIKE’ and ‘Hensoo’ again failed to turn things around against Russia, but at least they got their first point at 1:4 (0:0 and 1:3) – ‘Funkisenator’ and ‘Abeldos’ were still too strong. Only against the Scots ‘AdamRyan’ and ‘MarcMarleyyy’ did the German doubles not concede an overall defeat – the 4:1 win was, however, offset by a 2:3 in the second game.
No improvement on Friday
Whoever now suspected that Neuhausen and Hense would show a reaction after the disastrous Thursday not 24 hours later, saw themselves deceived. In the 0:6 (0:2 and 0:4) against the Portuguese ‘Tuga810’ and ‘Diogo’, ‘DullenMIKE’ and ‘Hensoo’ did not even score a goal – relegation was almost fixed afterwards.
The last point of the second Play-Ins week came against the Italians ‘guarinoJR’ and ‘Obrun2002’ (1:4 after 1:2 and 1:1). In the final match against the Swedes ‘Ollelito’ and ‘Oliboli’, the DFB suffered two more clear defeats (0:6 after 0:3 and 0:6). Besides Germany, Russia and Bulgaria also have to go down to the second division, while Spain secured the weekly victory.
The Play-Ins pressure is growing
The relegation has created a new pressure situation for the national team: If they fail to win promotion in the third week of play, they can only make it directly into the play-offs of the FIFAe Nations Series via the Consistency Ranking. In view of the more than meagre results this week, however, the chances are slim.
If Germany do not make it directly into the play-offs, they will have to take a diversion via the Main Stage of the FIFAe Nations Online Qualifiers. A scenario that the DFB would certainly like to avoid. According to the current rhythm, ‘Umut’ and ‘xMusti19’ would be used again in the coming week of the Play-Ins.
Mandatory promotion in the third week
The eNational team will then face Estonia, Slovakia, Iceland and Northern Ireland in the second division alongside the two fellow relegated teams – a place in the top trio is an absolute must. Romania, Belgium and Finland, who were relegated to Division Two in the first week of play, are taking the opposite route and moving back into the top flight.
Meanwhile, in the first European Conference, Denmark finished the second week of play in Division One as group winners. Meanwhile, Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have been relegated to Division Two, while England, Israel and Malta celebrated their promotion on Friday.