Trust me, I’m no fan of the Germans, but I simply cannot ignore that they are the team of the tournament. They have this annoyingly uncanny way of knowing how to perform at big tournaments, regardless of the personnel at their disposal. The 5-1 thrashing at the hands of England in world cup qualifying in 2001 is still widely lauded, and rightly so, as the coming of age of England’s last golden generation, but 9 months later which team do you think had battled its way to the final. You guessed it. The highly unfancied Germans. In fact their tournament record is nothing short of astonishing. They simply always turn up.
When Ballack, their talismanic captain, was ruled out this year, the youthful team shorn of his services were given little chance of winning the world cup, starting at odds of 14-1 (England were 7-1). They arrived with few stars and those who we knew were coming off the back of wretched seasons. Even though England would rather have avoided them, no one here was particularly worried about the prospect of facing them. One thing’s for sure, they really weren’t worried about playing us.
In an earlier blog I remarked with surprise that they were the most entertaining team of the first round of games when they beat the Australians with ease. Yes, the Aussies were wretched and had a player sent off but the ease with which the Germans settled into the tournament, oozing class and offering entertainment was a sign of things to come. They have set up a semi-final date with Spain, which is a mouth watering prospect, and yet remain second favourites to reach the final. Ozil, Mueller and the irrepressible Schweinsteiger have had incredible tournaments and I won’t be underestimating the Germans any more.
On the other side of the draw the colourful Dutch take on the last remaining South American team, Uruguay, whose place in the semis has been discussed at length after their jaw-droppingly unfair victory over Ghana on penalties. Central to the debate has been the conduct of their top scorer Suarez whose red card ironically rules him out of the semi against the country in which he has made his name (with Ajax). I have read various viewpoints around the subject of cheating. My first instinct was to point the finger but how many others would have done the same thing. His punishment was a red card and the concession of a penalty which should have seen Ghana through. What I take issue with is his complete lack of remorse for what was a blatant piece of cheating. Instead, of lying low and showing humility, he has sought the limelight likening the incident to Maradona’s hand of god and celebrating as if he is a hero. For this he should be vilified. Whether or not others would have done the same to protect their slim chance of remaining in the tournament is actually not the point. He cheated and he should have accepted that, apologised and then moved on. FIFA, typically, have also failed in their duty to protect the integrity of the game by confirming he will only serve a 1 match ban. I hope the Dutch win fair and square and we avoid the prospect of seeing him in the final.
And so to the final. Holland vs Spain would be tasty. Neither have won the tournament before, and only Holland have been as far as the final. They are two teams with great players who play the game the right way and the prospect of a new victor is appealing for the neutral.
Holland vs Germany is appealing for completely different reasons. They simply hate each other and thus it would make a potential match up intriguing. Despite my rational admiration for the way they’ve played, my emotional self can’t cope with a German world cup victory.
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