I had been through many examinations, common tests before in school. I might had passed some papers, kind of flunked in some others. But why do I have the feeling it's heading back to those days again, especially on the eve of a major exam?
Yours truly is not liking it. She is not liking it. This is more worse than waiting for the Champions League final in Moscow in May this year to start between my club Manchester United and Chelsea. More worse than minutes ahead of the England-Germany friendly at the Wembley last year. For the first time in my life, I am unexpectedly being 'thrown' into the whole physche behind the Austrian and German football rivalry. I had tried to read every single aspect of the rivalry since last year just out of boredom, never realising just four days ago in Klagenfurt and Vienna, a sudden turn of events will renew an old football rivalry once again. Suddenly it has become like you thought you had revised every single thing needed for a major exam paper but in the end, it turns out otherwise for you.
If one thought the English-German football rivalry is a famed one in the world of football, half right for once. If one thought the English-Scottish football football rivalry is heated (also given their respective FAs are also the two oldest in the world), half right. Long before the famed English-German football rivalry came about especially since the 1966 World Cup final, matches between neighbours Germany and Austria has always been emotionally-charged affairs. I had wrote in the past of Austria's former football greatness and also about indirectly ended at the hands of its bigger neighbour. The English-Scottish rivalry (which the English media will always call their Scottish counterparts 'The Auld Enemy') just pales in comparison to the Austrian-German football rivalry, and as according to The Independent's preview of the match in Vienna, 'Austria v Germany is Scotland v England multiplied'. History off the football pitch also do play a part in the rivalry between the two neighbours in German-speaking territories.
As Austria and Middlesbrough defender Emanuel Pogatetz has pointed out - The Germans want to laugh at us because we're the small neighbours and they think we can't play football. Do Germans sometime tell jokes about us Austrians? Oh yeah, all the time, and we feel a little bit hurt. Of course we want to beat them. Small brother versus the big brother, David versus Goliath. Should be exciting for the neutral. But hang on, who are we referring to here? Austria, the one-time 'wunderteam' (in the 30s, that is) and used to create an upset exactly 30 years ago in Cordoba, Argentina ('Miracle of Cordoba' in Austria, 'Shame of Cordoba' in Germany)...up against the three-time European champions (maybe it's why Austria coach Josef Hickersberger, who was part of the famous squad which beat Germany 30 years ago in Cordoba, thinks his side has 40% chance of winning). History may be siding towards the Germans since Cordoba (though the last time these two met in a friendly also in Vienna early this year, the Germans only found the net in the second-half with 3-0 in the end), Austria wants another Cordoba.
What is at stake in Vienna. For Austria to progress, a win. For Germany to progress, a win or a draw is fine (though the Croatia-Poland match do play a part but that is if the match's results swung into Germany's favour). A draw for Austria...they will be out if Poland beat already-qualified Croatia. The pressure is on for Germany to hold the flag for major footballing nations (given now Italy and France could face the prospects of being eliminated in the group stages, after both being humbled by Holland at their group) as Germany midfielder Torsten Frings said that they will not be going home early. Looking how Austria has progressed in the tournament, they might had been ridiculed in the past by their own people, Austria team manager Andreas Herzog is saying that they are contenders now.
The Croatia loss was a wake-up call, as according to Germany captain Michael Ballack. Time to re-group after the 2-1 loss (the team even have a clear-the-air talks as well, excluding the coaching staff) and even Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari (the winner of Group A, which is Portugal, will meet the runner-up of Group B) expecting the Germans to bounce back with even Austria coach Josef Hickersberger don't remember Germany losing two matches in a row. Hickersberger used to play his football in Germany at one time (even having coaching stints there) and for him, matches against the Germans are always special but...he rather remember the time when he was part of the Austria side which beat then East-Germany 3-0 in the 1990 World Cup qualifier (it was a couple of days after the fall of the Berlin Wall). He believes his opponents are there for the taking in Vienna.
Germany coach Joachim Loew famously said the day after his side lost to Croatia, that the Austrian players have 'a one-off chance to make themselves immortal in the public eye' (another link to the quote, though this article is more on previewing the match). With 1978 bringing back a lot of memories in Austria these days especially since after Germany lost to Croatia and Austria drawing with Poland, the war of the newspapers (both broadsheets and the tabloids) has already broken out between the two nations. I knew about that when watching ESPN Sportscenter Asia where one of the correspondents for Sportscenter Asia showed the headlines in both Austrian and German newspapers and what is for sure...the rivalry has been rekindled again. This match was supposed to be a dead rubber but it has taken on a whole new meaning.
After reading this while watching the Group A action on the pay-TV (I have to switch in between the channels) this morning, I really hope Loew meant what he said of not letting the fans down. The world is watching. And to think of it (given my mother is never wrong most of the time), my mother is really right when she said that while I was watching the higlights from Group B's first round of matches that Loew is handsome (she didn't know the name though). After looking at the training photos out of Vienna yesterday...she's right.
Team news now. Over at Austria, defender Sebastian Proedl is suspended. In Germany, Lukas Podolski and Philipp Lahm has overcome their injury concerns. Marcell Jansen has a shoulder injury. Bastian Schweinsteiger is definitely out after the red card he got in the match against Croatia.
In a way for the now-Germay coach Joachim Loew, it's back to familar territory. He actually once had a coaching stint at Austria Vienna (the club is based in the Austrian capital, where the crucial match against Austria is going to be played) before Juergen Klinsmann made him his assistant four years ago in the German national team.
You know as they always say in football - Never write off the Germans. Think about it.
