Thursday 15 April 2010

GERMANY

THEY ARE:
The nation that shot to fame for being responsible for two world wars in the fast half of the last century. Some guy with his book “My Struggle” was a very naughty boy. They are also known for possessing a strange affection towards David Hasselhoff.

AS A FOOTBALL NATION:
They are a machine. Teams will need to play beyond themselves to defeat them. As a side they do not suffer fools.

MY OWN EXPERIENCE:
Traditionally an emotionless team of divers with the occasional interesting moustache for years it felt that they were the team that always won. Obviously the West German match from Turin in 1990 against England goes down as one of the most exciting World Cup finals encounters ever. Then there was 1966 when England defeated West Germany in the World Cup final from Wembley.

IN 2010:
Germany is not expected to do much in this competition but they are always going to be there or there abouts. Losing Ballack to injury at the cup final could be a weakening factor as an ageing team plugs away at their latest campaign. Klose is still up front, now chasing the all time World Cup finals scoring record. It’s a big ask. They have not won the World Cup since becoming unified. Their coach Joachim Low looks like wrestling brain Eric Bischoff. Sitting in Group D there is a possibility of them playing England in the first round of the knock out stage.

FAMOUS PLAYERS:
It begins with Beckenbauer continues with Gerd Muller and moves onto Karl Heinz Rumminegge via Harold Schumacher through to Lothar Matthaus and Rudi Voller. Then there was Klinnsmann. In recent years there has been Michael Ballack. I also remember the name Buchwald quite vividly because its mere mention would incense my old dog Snowy. It just made him angry.

MOST OBVIOUS REFERENCE:
Towels on sun beds.

AWAY FROM FOOTBALL:
Germany is an amazing country with a tainted past that ruins their modern reputation. With each generation this improves though and when I visited Berlin a couple of summers ago I returned with nothing but praise for the city being an exciting and vibrant place. And I barely scratched the surface.

NUMBER OF PEOPLE FROM GERMANY THAT I KNOW:
I don’t know any actual German people (and I wish I did) but I do know a few people that now live in Berlin.

QUOTE FROM A GERMAN:
I’ll try.

DO I LIKE THEM:
I like Germany but I do not like the German national football team.

FINAL COMMENT:
Smile.

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