Has the year already ended in terms of international football? Everyone is saying that although England had managed a draw with their Dutch counterparts in an international friendly (1-1), England had only improved slightly somehow since the Euro qualifiers. Germany came 'screeching to a halt' (literally, at least that's what I thought when I read The New Paper on Thursday where it headlined 'German machine stalls') after their honeymoon abruptly ended in Cyprus in the Euro qualifiers (final score: 1-1).
But then, they have one thing in common with England this week - injury woes.
Ireland's case was a little more bittersweet. It was the last time they played in the stadium at Lansdowne Road in Dublin before renovation works kick in to expand the stadium. They were up against San Marino. Still, 5-0 to the Irish in their Euro qualifier. Their first ever win so far. They last drew in their previous Euro qualifier match and new coach Steve Staunton faced his baptism of fire when his side were up against Germany and they lost. A pretty nice ending against the traditional whipping boys of Europe (San Marino, that is...), given the Irish national team never made their way to Germany during the World Cup.
Spain's luck just kept dwindling (lost in a friendly against Romania; 0-1 to them), Croatia are beginning to dream of Euro 2008 (they won 4-3 on away soil in Israel), Russia is beginning to step up their game and they are warning the English they are coming (now England is third in their group qualifying match as a result of that and only two from each group will make their way to Austria and Switzerland in 2008), France won over Greece (1-0) in a friendly which saw Thierry Henry soon levering up his goalscoring record with French hero Michel Platini's record of 41 international goals with only two more left (yeah, he scored the one against Greece).
It's international friendlies and Euro qualification matches galore earlier this week, that is. Didn't I talk about it beforehand here? And oh yeah, Brazil win over Switzerland with a 2-1 win at the latter's side in a friendly. A good start under new coach Dunga. Except for the hiccup in the case of a draw with Norway on a friendly, everything is fine and dandy since.
Now call me biased, but then now I want to 'exlplore' about the England and Germany case in general. Both sides, with events going way back especially more prominently during WWII when Hitler wanted to invade England and he never did after the Blitz...with yeah, Britain's wartime prime minister Sir Winston Churchill saying 'We shall not surrender' (one of his famous phrases since). Fast forward to peaceful times. The UK, given they were once our colonial master and so we have to learn about what they did during colonial Singapore back then in class...and Germany, well, it was the first real time during History classes which launched the country into the spotlight for me as a result of the History textbook syllabus. Football wise? Whoaaaa! They are fierce rivals. I can so imagine, given it all started during WWII. One former History student vouching over here! Ha ha.
At the start of the year, England were under the then Sven-Goran Eriksson. Germany had it lucky given they were going to be the hosts for the World Cup. The word was that it is England's time to get the most prestigious football trophy after 40 years with some of the best England has ever seen on its national squad. Germany is bullish about it, in the form of former coach Juergen Klinsmann. I was a little doubtful for the England side and kind of wondered if Germany will make it, judging from what I read back then before the World Cup. But the phrase of 'be patient, my friend' rolled in. So? I found myself screaming for the German national team and England's case? Okaaay... I wasn't really that sad when England was out of the World Cup. But Germany's case was the stuff of fairytales. Almost. They were stopped by eventual winners Italy in the semis. But a third-place finish was enough to squash out any doubts about the country which had often seen as dour and serious to the outside world. At least to the press here and, me. Oh yeah, during the Day of German Unity on October 3, the documentary 'Germany: A Summer Fairytale' was shown throughout the country with great response...given it showcases the story of the national squad from preparation right into the World Cup action.
How heart actually ruled over matter during then and now. England were alright in my book, maybe given I learned that having too many famous names on the squad during the World Cup is sometimes a little too overrated. Who can name the entire German national squad before the World Cup? Not even me. Me, myself and I. I know, not the movie title 'Me, Myself and Irene' given I remembered in Secondary Two, our new English teacher actually told us to write a composition about our own self in the title of 'Me, Myself and I'. A play on the movie title. So the bottomline to what I said before this is - sometimes being average is good enough. If you got the licence to thrill (I know, a play on Bond movie 'Licence To Kill' given 'Casino Royale' is shown everywhere now), that is fine.
At least we can safely say it's a good year for Germany and maybe alright for England. Yeah, yeah. Russell Crowe's latest movie is called 'A Good Year'. I purposely said that.
Now I feel like cursing the broadcasters. Judging from what I saw on the Thursday's edition of Sportscenter on ESPN of the highlights of whatever happened in the Cyprus-Germany match, the gods (psst, the broadcasters) must be crazy. I was like 'whoaaaa!' in my head when I saw the reaction to Ballack's goal. Gee, Klinsmann's off-pitch antics had kind of rubbed onto his former assistant Joachim Loew. But hang on, it is already starting to show for a while. Anyways, I was almost having my eyes widened and amused and laughing at the same time on Thursday. The darn broadcasters, indeed. I am not going to say anything about the no-show on cable regarding the Holland-England friendly.
As it is often being said 'be patient, my friend', I am. Or trying to.
I know the biggest news by far this week is when US President Bush comes to town on Thursday with his wife. I will try to talk about that tomorrow. It was the biggie and I just have to say it. Lalalala!
