But many of Australia's problems are déjà vu.
In fact, the runners-up from last year's Women's Europa League have been pretty poor over the last six months, and it turns out that the 6:0 start to the season with a win over Morocco masked some serious flaws in the team.
Germany had little to show for it in terms of possession, other than passing the ball to star striker Pope, especially against intelligent, defensive-minded teams like Colombia and South Korea. The key ingredient for Germany's success against more dominant teams at Euro 2022 - stealing the ball up front - was almost completely missing in the midfield with sharp coordination.
Germany were so eager for Pope to make an impact that they bypassed the midfield too quickly. As a result, players had little option to pass close to the ball as the game felt constantly stretched. Oberdorf said after Thursday's 1-1 draw:- "The passes were too far apart.
Coach Fors Tecklenburg's tactical strategy also backfired as players resented frequent substitutions and having to play on the bench.
Against South Korea, she replaced Bayern Women's midfielder Lina Maguer with Lea Schuler, making Germany's game more direct and staid.
Worst of all, Germany suddenly adopted a hybrid three-fullback/four-fullback defense, a complex system that only works with flexible and versatile players and lots of training time, but is far less effective without either.
For most of Thursday's game, the players seemed clueless about how to use this formation. Their game was filled with nerves and poor first touches. National team director Jyoti Chatzialksyu said, "We have a mental block. Maybe the confidence within the team is not as strong as their public statements."
The recent failures of the German men's national soccer team have led commentators to discuss the wider ailments of German soccer in general. Clichés such as youth training, the lack of "street soccer players", and too many extracurricular activities in youth camps have all been brought out.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung even linked the poor performance of the tournament to the poor performance of the economy. In an unusual tone of cultural pessimism, the paper wrote: "The women's soccer team's exit is a symptom of a country that believes it is far more competitive than it actually is."
But the only real thing worth exploring is that both elite teams are poorly coached.
Let's not forget that Forsyth Tecklenburg led Germany's women's soccer team out of the 2019 Women's World Cup quarterfinals, Germany's worst World Cup result to date. Germany's women's soccer team's surprising success at last summer's Euros was not encouraging.
In her five years at the helm, Germany only gained one month of overall strength in England (Women's Euro) last year. Only one positive performance in such a long period of time is not enough.
To her credit, Forsyth-Tecklenburg has taken personal responsibility for the failure, but it remains to be seen whether her bosses are prepared to draw the necessary conclusions.
So far, the German Football Association, which has always been willing to be quiet, has stood behind her. A more ruthless appraisal of the national team manager's job is desirable.
Especially today, when other national teams are improving rapidly, a half-baked program that relies on one player's ability is unlikely to make any progress.
