[CydeWeys]

Very common here in the US to do this with all countries. "Germany" is a country, whereas "Germans" are people. So in a sporting context saying something like "The Germans are better at passing the ball" makes more grammatical sense than "Germany is better at passing the ball". Same for the Italians, the French, etc.

[smcl]

It’s not quite the same actually. You’ll see the commentators occasionally reference Italy/The Italians or France/the French ... but the way they use “The Germans” is on a different level. I also feel like it’s also said with a weird intonation, so not “The Germans” but “The Germans” - with a little snarl :-D

I don’t know how to explain it - you’d need to watch a World Cup with BBC and ITV coverage to see it in action. England have a special footballing history with Germany so it may be related to this.

Note: not implying this was what the original person meant, this is just a silly tangent :-)