By Myles Palmer
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Germany 1 Ireland 1
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Klose 19, Keane 92
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Oliver Kahn was Germany’s best player as the Irish dominated the game after conceding the first goal-again.
Ballack crossed from the left and Klose got inside Ian Harte and headed down past Shay Given for 1-0.
But after that the Irish grafted and tackled and worked and passed the ball about and made a handful of chances and half-chances.
The Germans sat back and allowed the game to become a siege.
They could not pick up their game enough to threaten a second goal to finish the contest.
Just when hope was fading, in stoppage time,Steve Finnon launched a 60-yard ball down the middle and sub Niall Quinn flicked on beautifully and Robbbie Keane zoomed between the centrebacks and took the bouncing ball on his body and fired in from six yards off the near post!!!!!!
When Quinn first played for Arsenal he was 19 and flicked on hundreds of balls just liike that for Martin Hayes and Charlie Nicholas.
Finnon was ten yards inside his own half when he launched that mega-pass and Quinn demontrated perefct timing to jump just in front of the defender and glance the ball down into the box and into Robbie Keane’s stride.
WHAT A GOAL !
It’s obviously karma. I believe in karma. If you go home on the tube with your dad after games, as I saw Niall Quinn do, and you give away a million quid to charity from your testimonial, you earn good karma.
By calling Mick McCarthy a crap player and crap manager and by calling him an Englishman, Roy Keane stored up bad karma.
Staunton and Breen?
I take back everything I ever said about them – they were both brilliant!
IF CAMEROON beat Germany in their final match, Germany are out of the World Cup. Assuming Cameroon and Ireland both stuff the Saudis.
Too soon to say whether goal difference will be decisive.
Will Samuel Eto’o get five against Saudi Arabia at 10 a.m. tomorrow?
EVERY TEAM has now played one game and Italy are the best team we have seen.
Biggest surprise of the tournament is that the referees have been excellent.
Second biggest surprise? Only one goal has been scored from a direct free kick, by right back Franciscvo Arce of Paraguay.
Most exciting newcomer is DIOUF of Senegal, but one great performance is not a great player.
If Diouf is as good as he looks, and Liverpool do sign him for £10 million, it’s a steal.
He is, or soon could be, a £25 million striker.
FLOP of the tournament is PORTUGAL.
Their team selection should be based on seniority, form, fitness, balance-lots of things.
Not on seniority alone.
RUI COSTA was not fit.
He was hiding.He didn’t want the ball against the USA because he was not strong enough to produce his normal playmaking game.
5th June 2002.