Soccer: A bunch of fighters silences the critics

SEOUL - Germany have defied the critics to stand within one game of lifting the World Cup for the first time in 12 years.

Written off by many observers after going through lean times and struggling to qualify, the triple world champions entered the tournament with lower expectations than usual, but with a fierce determination to prove the doubters wrong.

"We can be proud of ourselves," said playmaker Michael Ballack, who hit the winner in the 1-0 semifinal victory over South Korea.

"We were realistic enough to know that we did not belong to the favourites, but we had the belief that we could achieve something special."

Marching to the final used to be business as usual for the Germans.

But they lost their status as automatic contenders after failing to win a title since their 1996 European championship triumph, and moving to the brink of missing the World Cup after a 5-1 thrashing by England in a qualifier last September.

With few genuine world-class players, but a bunch of fighters with little to lose, they survived while teams blessed with more talent were sent packing in a tournament of upsets.

"In the first rounds we had top teams in our group in Cameroon and Ireland," said coach Rudi Voeller, dismissing suggestions his side had an easy run with no traditional heavyweights standing in their way.

After thrashing Saudi Arabia 8-0, Germany were held to a 1-1 draw by a battling Ireland side before beating African champions Cameroon 2-0 as they topped group E.

But it was not always pretty and heavy media criticism followed their dismal shows in the laboured 1-0 wins over Paraguay and the United States that took them to the last four.

But they raised the level of their game when they had to, relying on a disciplined collective effort to end the astonishing journey of the co-hosts, South Korea.

"We fought hard and played well for a deserved victory," said goalkeeper and captain Oliver Kahn, one of the few who kept saying that Germany had the right to be ambitious.

After disappearing from the last two World Cups in the quarter-finals and making a shock first-round exit from Euro 2000, Germany could be happy just to be in the final for the first time since they last lifted the coveted trophy in 1990.

But Kahn wants more, saying Germany are still hungry enough to win the first final they will contest as a unified country.

"Once you're in the final you want to win it," he said.

Meeting Brazil for the first time in the World Cup's 72-year history would provide a fitting conclusion to Germany's fairytale comeback, but Turkey would do.

"We don't really mind who we play," Kahn said. "The way this tournament has been going it could be Turkey."

Voeller, 42, who embarked on a mission to restore the team's pride after the Euro 2000 disaster, could emulate legendary countryman Franz Beckenbauer by winning the World Cup as both player and coach.

- REUTERS

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