Meaning of “a while since”?

Question

I read the following sentence in a newspaper, but I don't understand what it means.

It's been a while since Germany had so many good players.

Could someone explain what it means?

Answer 1

"A while" in your title is Ok. But in your example, you're supposed to be using "while" as a Noun. You should type it this way:

It's been A WHILE since Germany had so many good players.

In your example, "a while" means a long time. So your sentence can be rephrased this way:

It's been a while since Germany had so many good players. = Germany hasn't had so many good players in a long time.

Answer 2

You have two different things in there. "Awhile" and "a while". They are both used to indicate a period of time, or an amount of time, but they are used slightly differently.

Your sentence does mean that the amount of time was a very long time. But when used in other ways and in other sentences, "awhile" could actually mean a short period of time.
Such as: "Let's stay awhile" - which usually means let's stay for a short time.

Oh and another thing, "awhile" is an adverb, while "a while" is a noun. You can look it up, but they are two different things.