World Cup blog: Week 4

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Sunday

Well there are few things in life that are absolute certainties but one of them is surely that if England face a penalty shootout in a major competition - they will lose it.

Lampard, Gerrard and Carragher can now proudly add their names to an ever-lengthening list of England players to have failed in the ultimate one-on-one footballing challenge.

Scouting around the media facilities at Gelsenkirchen for expert opinion on the likely outcome before the quarterfinal showdown against Portugal,zherald.co.nz bumped into Garth Crooks of Tottenham and England fame (if my memory serves me right).

Crooks had a positive feeling about the match and even predicted a 4-3 extra-time victory in the final over Germany but the BBC commentator inadvertently put the mocker on England.

"I think they'll play better and get through but if it goes to penalties they'll lose."

Cheers for that Garth.

Crooks was also able to give an insight into life at England's Baden-Baden camp.

"Wives and girlfriends fine, but aunties, uncles, grandparents - It's a circus."

He was responding to a story told by London Evening Standard football reporter Michael Hart (he's been at most every England match since 1972 including the two played against NZ in the early 90s).

Hart, who was also based at Baden-Baden recounted how he'd been heading down to the tennis courts and heard a huge commotion.

When he got there the reason was clear:

"The Scousers were all down there - 18 of them on one court including [unsavoury personal details omitted] one in stilettos."

The Scousers one suspects were Jamie Carragher's extended family. Whether that had anything to do with his penalty miss well who knows, eh.

* * *

The France v Brazil quarterfinal produced a sensational result but I hope you'll forgive the scant details - to add insult to injury the Deutche Bahn (railway) ran into troubles and I followed the match via text message.

Brazil never really gelled at this tournament but always looked to have the individual brilliance to take them all the way to the final.

In the end it looks as if the individual skills of an inspired Zindane has been enough to undo them.

Want to take odds on a Germany v France final anyone?

I'm sure the Italy and Portugal will have a bit to say on that yet.

* * *

Hey Mo, from Thailand ... yeah the sausages are fine over here and the beer is even better.

I've been meaning to put together a post on the amber nectar but haven't got around to it yet. Maybe in the break between matches now we are in the final stages of the tournament.

* * *

Sorry, there will be no more goals involving 26 passes but I've got to say the Argies bought it on themsevles a wee bit. Every team that has tried to hold on to a one goal advantage has struggled.

Taking off Riquelme backfired if you ask me.

But what about Klose not only did he score but took out the goalkeeper denying the Argentines the chance of bringing in Messi late in the game.

Gotta dash, see you soon, eh.
- Posted 9pm by Robin Martin


Saturday

A favourite Teutonic football song of mine echoed around Bremen after the Germany versus Argentina match (for obvious reasons I suppose).

It goes something like this:

"Oh wie, est das shoen. Oh wie, est das shoen. So was hat man lange nicht gesehen. So shoen, so shoen."

The translation won't really do it justice but it goes something along the lines of :

"Oh it's so wonderful, oh it's so wonderful. We have seen anything like that in a long time. It's so wonderful, so wonderful."

Thousands of fans had gathered at this northern German city's marketplace to watch the game versus Argentina and after a 120 minute emotional rollercoaster erupted into a spontaneous celebration which included many a hearty version of the above ditty. (Such a positive wee number, you've just got to love it - although it does help if you understand German).

Whenever there is a celebration of note - or demonstration of reasonable size for that matter - it is a tradition for Bremen folk to take control of the Siewall corner in the Steintor quarter and the after-match party proved no exception.

Thousands of people piled out of bars, restaurants and private homes or made their way from the marketplace to honour Klinsi's boys at the normally busy intersection.

An awful lot of Becks was consumed and, as is the tradition for footie celebrations, footballs were kicked through the air.

The corner was occupied for a couple of hours (it must be said with the full cooperation of the police) before people slowly dispersed or drifted off to catch the result of the Italy-Ukraine match.

Such spontaneous outpourings of emotion have been a regular feature of this World Cup as the German side continues on its winning roll.

For a horrible moment the World Cup party looked like it was over for the hosts but they prevailed ' again. Don't they always!

It's got the look of a German title but they still have to face Italy and perhaps Brazil to claim the cup. Good luck to them I say. They've played with a vigour some of the other sides could do well to emulate which reminds I've got to catch a train and go and see if those limey's have improved yet.
- - - posted 6.00pm by Robin Martin


Friday

Achtung Deutschland in Danger!

So read the email message stuck to Eckard's fridge.

"The shooting of Bruno means the end for Germany's World Cup hopes," it went on.

Bruno is the brown bear that has been cruising the mountains between Italy, Germany and Switzerland for the past couple of months.

It was the first bear to have crossed into Germany for some 170 years but unfortunately he had developed a taste for country folks' chickens and it was decided he was a threat to humans and had to be shot. Two Bavarian hunters did the evil deed.

But now German sports commentator Waldemar Hartmann believes that the death of Bruno means the national team's chance of winning the World Cup is over.

"The shooting of Bruno represents the death of the soul of German football," he told the Munich Abendzeitung newspaper.

"The relationship between the bear and a German World Cup victory is clear," he said, before explaining that Bern - the venue of the 1954 final - and Berlin both have bears in their coat of arms and that the California home of Jurgen Klinsmann also has bears loose in the wild.

Bayern's environment secretary Otmar Bernhard, who gave the order to kill Bruno, should take responsibility for the German side's downfall, continued Hartmann.

"When you allow the mascot for a German World Cup victory to be shot then you are guilty of the quarter-finals being end station for the national team."

The Argentines now had the better cards, he said.

"Bruno is dead and Maradona still lives! The Argentinians know the worth of a lucky charm."
- - - posted 9.15am by Robin Martin


Robin, enjoying your take on the WC, and if this football reporting thing doesn't take off for you, I think you have a bright future as a travel or food reporter (I've not read a better article on sausages than your piece in Blog week 3 I think). Despite the crap match times, and no Asian teams in the quarters, we're loving the tournament here. Aside from the action, another positive is the seriously reduced amount of traffic in Bangkok close to kick off. Stay well & looking forward to a 26 passes goal this weekend.
- - - posted 12.55pm by Moo, from Thailand


Thursday

Jeez, two days without football, what are we going to do?

Brazil and France (somehow) have negotiated their way through to the quarter-finals leaving a wee pause for breath in the footballing community.

In New Zealand that would be an excellent opportunity to fill out the World Cup wall chart that you've somehow managed to avoid since the second round of group matches.

In Europe that wouldn't be a problem because most newspapers print a complete tournament run down (including scorers, yellow and red cards, games played etc) every day.

But what will be keeping many Germans busy is their Panini sticker book - no, it's got nothing to do with Ponsonby Rd-style toasted sandwiches although it is Italian.

Panini is a sticker book that is reminiscent of the old English First Division player cards I collected as a kid and has been part of World Cup culture here since at least the 1970s, perhaps even earlier.

And it's not just kids that are excited about their Panini. I've seen family men eagerly going through their latest batch of stickers and watched with some surprise as two hospo workers traded players in the early hours of the morning in a bar where a discussion on the latest exploits of Killing Joke frontman Jaz Coleman certainly made more sense.

To complete a Panini you need to get the sticker for all the World Cup players. That would cost about 60 euro if you could simply choose the ones you need but the stickers are bought in random 5- and 10- euro packs and you end up with many of the same more than once. And that's when the trading begins.

It's a format that lends itself to internet auction sites with rare stickers often found for sale or trade on Ebay ' a completed Panini for the 2006 World Cup is already fetches about 350 euro and will only grow in worth.

Bild Zeitung, the German version of England's tabloid newspaper the Sun, has also come out with a list of what to do during the two-days without football.

Here are some of my favourites:
1. Reintroduce yourself to your wife or girlfriend.
2. Take a shower.
3. Have sex.
4. Change your socks.
5. Take the dog for a walk.
6. Get more drinks and snacks for the quarter-finals.
7. Go to an Argentine steakhouse and order curry wurst.

Bild has also been busy getting to the bottom to why David Beckham was sick during the match with Ecuador:
1. England's form is enough to make anyone sick.
2. He'd just seen Victoria's credit card bill.
3. He'd drunk too much English beer.
4. Victoria is pregnant again and as a metrosexual he suffers the morning sickness symptoms too.

Bild even featured a picture of a reporter on hands and knees searching for remnants of David's vomit on the Stuttgart stadium pitch.

Now the nzherald.co.nz World Cup blog would never stoop to such levels.
- - - posted 8.00am by Robin Martin


Tuesday

The Aussies may have been tumbled out of the World Cup via a controversial last-second penalty but their fans weren't about to let that spoil the chance of one last party in Germany.

Down on the Kaiserslautern fan-mile the Italians were certainly in better spirits but our Anzac cousins had obviously decided to put their bitter disappointment behind them.

"We were p***** off at first but now we're going to drown our sorrows," said Ken Petersen of Penrith in Sydney. "The boys played well - what can you say?"

George Bazouni, also of Sydney, agreed: "It was bit upsetting to lose like that, but the party goes on."

There were a few chants of suggesting the referee may have received something extra in his wage packet this week but a few beers and a few AC/DC tracks later (yes, they are still bashing them out here) and the Aussie fans were back in best form.

The boys and girls from across the Ditch have made a lot of friends in Germany and bought something of a rugby sevens atmosphere to the World Cup with their costumes and inflatable beach toys.

I've seen Aussies variously dressed as koala bears, kangaroos, lifesavers and in handmade lederhosen. Their inflatables have included kangaroos (again), sharks, dolphins and the ever-popular beach balls.

In Kaiserslautern, which incidentally has been voted best World Cup host city in one of the big newspapers here, they have proved particularly popular - for one thing because they don't take themselves too seriously (well obviously).

The Italians' reward for defeating Australia is a quarter-final against Ukraine which beat Switzerland in a penalty shootout after a scoreless 120 minutes.

One could be excused for finding something else to do when those two teams meet.
- - - posted 11.40am by Robin Martin


Monday

Well, what do you know - England can continue to dream of adding to their one World Cup title. But it must be said that on the evidence of their performance against Ecuador it is surely to remain just that - a dream.

The chants of "Deutschland, Deutschland" ringing out around the Stuttgart stadium were evidence enough of the disappointing spectacle and the fact that England's usually raucous fans remained somewhat subdued throughout indicates faith in a repeat of 1966 is fading.

David Beckham's sublime freekick to win the tie was just about worth the five-hour train journey from Berlin but I'd be struggling to find much else to write home about from an England fan's perspective.

Rooney was busier and showed touches of class, but Joe Cole was strangely anonymous and the finishing of Lampard and Gerrard left something to be desired.

Not that the Ecuador were much better.

Ashley Cole's touch, which saw Carlos Tenorio's shot cannon onto the crossbar early in the first half, was significant. Had Tenorio scored England could well have been on their home.

But considering Ecuador had to find a goal to stay in the competition they too showed little initiative in the sauna-like conditions in Stuttgart.

If there is a silver lining for England it is that their quarter-final opponents Portugal (Paul, you were onto something after all - see post from reader last Friday) will be without two first-choice regulars after a kick-fest against Holland ended with two players from each side getting red cards are after twice seeing yellow.

Holland dominated for large parts of the match but fell behind to a superbly taken goal in what became an increasingly bitter encounter.
Now it's off to Kaiserslautern to see if the Aussies can continue their impressive run against footballing giants Italy.

There is a surprising sympathy for the Aussies amongst the locals here with many having spent holidays Down Under and wanting the boys from across the Ditch to go on.

Kaiserslautern has been a happy hunting ground for them so far but the odds are stacked against them.
- - - posted 10.40am by Robin Martin