In 2014, the DFB group ready for the World Cup in St. © AFP / PATRIK STOLLARZ
This yr marks ten years since Germany received the World Cup in Brazil. The DFB heroes discovered the ultimate contact of this within the Passeier Valley. The coaching camp on the time was shrouded in tragedy, however now unhappy particulars are rising.
23. May 2024
From: det
Just ten years in the past, the German soccer group was a visitor in St. Martin. There, within the magnificent Passeier Valley, the group was arrange in a coaching camp that wrote an awesome success story in Brazil a couple of weeks later. Bastian Schweinsteiger & Co. received the long-awaited fourth World Cup trophy in Copacabana in July 2014.
It was a fable that Germany acquired on the time. A legend, nonetheless, that additionally had an enormous darkish aspect: specifically the tragic occasions through the coaching camp within the Passeier Valley. During the promotion of DFB sponsors Mercedes, an accident occurred wherein two individuals have been injured, some significantly. New ARD-The documentary “We are the Champions of the World. Adventure Football World Cup 2014” now reveals the unhappy particulars of the horrific accident.
An accident occurred on this street. © Markus Dorn
The drama occurred on May 27, 2014. A business for Mercedes involving two vehicles occurred on a closed street in St. Leonhard, close to the DFB camp. In one automotive sat the later Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg and DFB participant Julian Draxler, within the different 19-year-old DTM driver Pascal Wehrlein {and professional} footballer Benedikt Höwedes.
It’s time for hazard
In the ARD report, Höwedes recollects the second of the accident: “We solely noticed the automotive in entrance. There have been two individuals standing in entrance of the barrier who have been clearly giving hand alerts. Or cease for an autograph. Anything else. Rosberg simply could not check it. He hit the brakes. And Wehrlein needed to react in a really brief time,” mentioned the previous DFB defender.
Nico Rosberg on the morning of the accident. The ambiance was free and exquisite. In the afternoon, a critical visitors accident occurred throughout a sponsorship occasion. © AFP / PATRIK STOLLARZ
Wehrlein couldn’t stop the catastrophe. “There have been three choices. Either you fly right here to your dying. Even for those who hit a automotive, that would not finish effectively for anybody concerned. Or cross it to the left,” mentioned Höwedes.
“I used to be utterly shocked.”
Benedikt Höwedes
The racing driver ran in direction of the 2 individuals together with his evasive means. “We hit one among them on the again a bit of bit. One hit the windshield in entrance of me. He rolls over a number of instances. He is mendacity bleeding on the ground. People began screaming. I used to be utterly shocked and received out of the automotive. I say to kneel there. “First I needed to repair the scenario someway,” explains Höwedes.
Racing driver Pascal Wehrlein. © Markus Dorn
One was barely injured, the second was significantly injured. It’s noisy ARD The customer from Thuringia nonetheless must be taken care of immediately. The sufferer didn’t file a legal grievance after the accident – apparently ARD-Documents as a result of Mercedes made one fee of unknown quantity.
Höwedes is afraid to be a passenger
The accident left deep marks on Höwedes. “I saved seeing that second in my thoughts of the person smashing the entrance window. I’m nonetheless selecting. For instance, as a result of I nonetheless have bother sitting as a passenger in a automotive. It’s an enormous catastrophe, even when I do not blame him for not driving. But he nonetheless feels accountable for one other life that clearly cannot go on residing usually.”