REFEREE Horacio Elizondo had a good game as Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2.
Elizondo, an Argentinian, chastised divers, kept the game moving, and didn’t drop any clangers, so we may be seeing more of him as the tournament evolves.
Commentators will hope not, as few names are as hard to say as Horacio Elizondo.
Jens Lehmann was not to blame for either goal. Exposed by a negligent right back who played Paulo Wanchope onside for the equaliser, Lehmann stood his ground and gave himself a chance. But Wanchope’s disguised shot was low and sudden and Jens could not quite reach it with his foot.
Left back Philipp Lahm had slammed in the first goal after six minutes, thrilling the German nation and those of us who had said that the bookies were giving us money on a bets on more than 2.5 goals in the game.
Wanchope made it 1-1 and then Klose stabbed him at the far post for 2-1 in 17 minutes and it was 2-1 at half-time.
The new ball was encouraging many long-range shots.I’d also had a bet on Klose to score with a header in the game. That was, I thought, a certainty at 8-1 but by the time I placed the bet it was 6-1but when Klose connected with a decent header in 61, keeper Porras parried and Klose had to knock in the rebound with his foot for 3-1. Then Wanchope strolled through again, just onside, and slotted past Lehmann again.
I was thinking : “Klose hasn’t had many crosses today. Where’s Manny Kaltz when we need him?” (Kaltz was a classy right back from Hamburg who crossed an immaculate ball)
In 79, Klinsmann took Klose off and put Neuville on. Thanks a lot, Jurgen – he can’t score a header for me now.
Then Frings hit a 30-yarder which swerved five feet in the air and beat the keeper all ends up.
So the first match was exactly what I had expected. The Germans played a high-energy game, pressing in groups, forcing errors, winning the ball high up the field, and shooting at every opportunity.
Since they have an alarming defence, none of Germany’s games will be dull. I wondered what Schwarzenbeck made of it all. Beckenbauer’s big partner, an old school stopper.
POLAND are out of the World Cup, I think.
They froze, losing 2-0 to unfancied Ecuador, who tackled well and were much more skilful and positive. Their fiery teamwork rarely allowed the Poles into the game, apart from a late flurry when Poland hit the bar and the post.
I was watching both games with my 23-year old son Michael and the first 24 minutes of the Poland-Ecuador encounter were so dull that I said, “This game is a 0-0 draw.”
I’m prone to sweeping generalisations, as you know.
As I was saying this, De La Cruz took a throw on the right, Delgado headed on, and Carlos Tenorio plunged forward to nod down into the far side of the net for 1-0.
“You’ve still got it, dad,” said Michael.”That was the best since Klinsmann.”
He was referring to Euro ’96, a game when my lawyer friend Mark Jacob, a Spurs fan, came round. Mark and I had become massive fans of Jurgen Klinsmann during his meteoric season at White Hart Lane.
Klinsmann was awesome that year and I was moved to write a piece about him in FourFour Two magazine. Brave, explosive, charming, a prolific goalscorer, an A-list superstar, a 24-carat Footballer of the Year who was light years ahead of whoever was in second place.
It was Russia v Germany, no score, not much happening, and I started moaning. I said, “Klinsmann’s done nothing in this game !”
And immediately the great gladiator, plugging himself into some energy source that was not available to mere mortals, exploded from centrefield and lashed the ball with the outside of his right foot, a wonderstrike that came out of nothing, left everyone gobsmacked, and caused Mark to catapult off the sofa and almost hit the ceiling.
“It was better than Klinsmann,” said Michael, meaning that I had been proved wrong AS THE WORDS CAME OUT OF MY MOUTH, not just after.
“Yeah,” I said. ” That time there was about two seconds between me saying it and the ball hitting the back of the net. This was 0.5 seconds.”
“If I’d been looking at you when you said it, I’d have missed the goal,” he said.
So that was that. Germany won 4-2 and, with Ballack back, they will eliminate Poland on Wednesday.
Lehmann had his foot strapped up at half-time and says he is doubtful for the Poland game.
We are beginning to realise that most World Cup “news” is fitness news. Is Lehmann’s foot alright? Can he walk? Can he run? Can he jump? Can he train on Monday? If not, can he train on Tuesday? Will he be OK for Poland on Wednesday night?
I’m starting to get into the World Cup now. My formula is : don’t read the pundits, don’t watch the panel at half-time, don’t be parochial, don’t obsess about England’s chances, and look forward. There will be much to enjoy.The Ivory Coast can muscle Saviola & Crespo out of it tonight.
THE BBC panel, with Lineker already sounding bored, had Alan Hansen and Alan Shearer slagging off Klinsmann for living in California.
Chaps, nobody wanted the job in 2004, so the Germans had a big problem.They were stuck for a coach.Nobody wanted the responsibility, nobody wanted the grief, nobody wanted the aggro.And they didn’t want to hire a foreigner.
Knowing that Klinsmann is happily married to an American girl, with a young family, the German FA arranged to meet him in New York. He agreed to help them out, but said he would not live in Germany, so they hired him for two years on that basis. That was the agreement they made. To whinge about it now is pathetic.
Shearer grinned as he said, “If he ever leaves his job, I’ll apply for it. Cos I’d like to live in California.”
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GERMANY: 1-Jens Lehmann; 3-Arne Friedrich, 21-Christoph Metzelder, 17-Per Mertesacker, 16-Philipp Lahm; 19-Bernd Schneider (captain), 8-Torsten Frings, 18-Tim Borowski, 7-Bastian Schweinsteiger; 11-Miroslav Klose, 20-Lukas Podolski
COSTA RICA: 18-Jose Francisco Porras; 12-Leonardo Gonzales, 3-Luis Marin (captain), 4-Michael Umana, 5-Gilberto Martinez; 8-Mauricio Solis, 10-Walter Centeno , 20-Douglas Sequeira, 6-Danny Fonseca; 11-Ronald Gomez, 9-Paulo Wanchope.