May 2014. The German team by Joachim Löw concentrates on Italy for the World Cup in Brazila championship that they would lift a month and a half later, beating Argentina in the final with a goal from Mario Götze in extra time.
An unexpected event makes the news in the German and international press. During the recording of an advertisement for the Mercedes automobile brand for the World Cup, an accident occurred, in which two soccer players from the Mannschaft. Little by little the details are becoming known. Benedikt Howedes (Schalke 04 and Juventus, among others) and Julian Draxler (Schalke, Wolfsburg, PSG, Benfica and now in Qatar’s Al-Ahli) respectively accompanied the drivers in two cars. Pascal Wehrlein (DTM) and Nico Rosberg (Formula 1 world champion in 2016 and runner-up in 2014 and 2015) are the protagonists of a recording that bordered on tragedy.
A documentary released in Germany these days, in which the German team’s achievement of the World Cup is relived, reconstructs the events, with the voices of its protagonists. The pilots, accompanied by the footballers, drove along the interior roads of the complex where Löw’s team was staying during those days.
“There were two people standing in front of a barrier who were obviously doing hand signals. Or asking for an autograph or anything. In any case, Nico Rosberg, who was with Draxler, hit the brakes and was able to avoid them. Wehrlein, with The one I was with had to react as quickly as possible,” recalls Höwedes, explaining that they hit one of the people present from behind. “The other man crashed into the windshield.”means.
“When he crashed into us, he rolled several times and ended up lying there, bleeding. I was shocked.”
Benedikt Höwedes
Former German national team player
Luckily, although they were urgently transported by helicopter to the hospital, there were no deaths, but the images still frequently return to Höwedes’ mind. “When he collided with us he spun several times and ended up lying on the ground, bleeding. People started screaming. I was totally shocked, but I was able to get out of the car, staggering. I knelt next to him but before acting I had to process the situation first.“, he explains affectedly before the documentary cameras.
“I can’t stop remembering the moment the man crashed into my windshield, I still squirm. I still have trouble sitting as the passenger in a car. Even if it wasn’t my fault because I wasn’t driving, I still feel responsible and you can’t continue living normally,” continues the former German defender.
In addition to the novel and first-person testimonies, the ADR platform documentary delves into something that was never clear, guilt and why there was never a complaint. “There was no guilty plea and the case was closed. The victim did not file a criminal complaint. “Probably, he received adequate compensation from Germany,” explains Axel Bisignano, prosecutor for the area.
Germany won the World Cup, until today no one had gone back to an event overshadowed by sporting success. But in the memory of the protagonists, the injured man and those who occupied the car, like Höwedes and, surely also in that of the driver, Pascal Wehrlein, who was 19 years old at the time, it still resonates.
