I wondered if Craig Bellamy reacted in the heat of the moment. Knowing the Manchester City striker's personality and how even all the more as captain of the Wales national team he does wears his heart on his sleeve , I wondered was it wise of him to say that his side have no chance to qualify for the World Cup next year after the 2-0 loss to Finland on Saturday when being interviewed on television. Even if Germany is next on the agenda, speaking in a defeatist manner even as a captain after the match on Saturday...what was that?
It may be strange, considering I know when it comes to international football, I have to put club football loyalties aside. I know Craig Bellamy now plays for my club's city rivals (me being the Manchester United supporter here). But even as someone who is also a supporter of the German national team, I actually gasped when reading of his defeatist statements in the wake of Wales's loss to Finland over the weekend. A win over Finland will still mathematically give Wales qualification chance. Or maybe because in the wake of the 2-0 result, wherever I read, it says that Wales's chances of qualifying for the next World Cup are almost gone. Nobody says the battle is over even before it begin tomorrow in Cardiff. How many gave the England squad a chance against the Germans back in November when the injury crisis is hitting Fabio Capello's squad? Look what happened in the end in the friendly match in Berlin: 2-1, to England. The fact that it is the Germans next for John Toshack's side...that should be an added motivation playing against a side that went all the way to the Euro 2008 final.
I actually do like the attitude of Craig Bellamy's team-mate James Collins in which he said of the Germany encounter, "As long as we go into it with a bit of confidence and playing like we did over there, there's no reason we can't get a result." Collins was referring to the encounter in Moechengladbach which went 1-0 to Germany due to Piotr Trochowski's strike. Wales did what they were supposed to do but the eventual goal was unfortunate for them. Or at least that is my verdict (I know, as a Germany supporter). Wales's recent encounters against the Germans are actually not too bad. Just ask the current Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff. Before the 2002 World Cup tournament in which he was part of Rudi Voeller's side (yeah, the same Voeller who is currently the sporting director of Bayer Leverkusen), Wales beat Germany 1-0 in a friendly in Cardiff. Bierhoff was part of that Germany side.
Speaking of Oliver Bierhoff, he spoke to the media yesterday. That is before the squad travel to Cardiff. And he has already got the ball rolling by saying that he is expecting his side to live up to their billing as one of Europe's strongest teams and brush Wales aside. Germany may have played one game more than their closest rivals in their qualifying group in Russia and are four points clear of their qualifying group after the 4-0 home win against Liechtenstein on Saturday but Bierhoff said, "We want to strengthen our position in the table and hopefully qualify before we meet Russia. Therefore we must not drop any points against Wales." The German national team manager is wary of dropping points at the Millennium Stadium and handing the initiative to Russia, who they face away from home in October. The target is to qualify before the summer, as far as Bierhoff is concerned. Any dropping of points will mean it is all back to square one and the national team being under pressure, again. Like it was the case before the Liechtenstein match due to the back-to-back friendly defeats to England and Norway.
But then again, both Wales and Germany want the three points for different reasons. If Wales get it, it will definitely be a sensation. Not only that, keeping a mathematical chance of qualifying for the World Cup. And this means, piling even more pressure on German national team coach Joachim Loew. Three points for the Germans mean the October encounter away in Russia will stand in a good stead.
Since the days when I used to study History, I had always tried to always read between the lines in any article I read. Whatever may be reported on the surface may not tell you everything what the article is reporting. Imagine my surprise before the laughter in my head when I read that Loew hopes Wales throw caution to the wind at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium in Wednesday's World Cup qualifier as the Welsh try to keep their South Africa dream alive. Wait till you read what the Germany coach has to say, "They must win against us if they want to still have a theoretical chance of qualifying, so they will probably play an attacking game. The Welshmen wanted to improve their place in the table with two home victories, which didn't happen, so against us they will try to show a reaction after the defeat against Finland. I hope that will create a few holes at the back for us." Diplomatic, eh? But at the end of the day, he still wants the three points in Cardiff, period.
Suddenly, the sorry saga of Mario Gomez has not found the net for his last 13 appearances (including the match against Liechtenstein on Saturday) became the main talking point ahead of the match away in Wales. And I mean it, literally. Just about each of my German football source on Google Translate has something to say about Gomez. The fact that he had wasted goal-scoring chances just on Saturday has gotten the home crowd to boo him. Bad enough the home crowd never got to see the avalanche of goals they were expecting (only four in the end). There are already talk whether he should be dropped from the starting line-up in Cardiff altogether. But then again, didn't the same thing happened until Miroslav Klose's hat-trick away in Finland last September during the World Cup qualifiers silencing those who think Klose should not be in the starting line-up? A difficult balancing act. But still, everyone on the national team from the coaching staff to Gomez's team-mates had been behind him. When speaking to the media yesterday, national team manager Oliver Bierhoff even quoted what former basketball legend Michael Jordan who said he missed more than 9,000 shots and lost 300 matches in his illustrious career. He hoped that would spur Gomez on because one 'cannot talk about a sporting crisis as he has continued to score for his club'. But that is exactly what is the problem.
Oliver Bierhoff knows what he is talking about actually. Considering he used to be a striker in his former playing days. Speaking from experience himself, "This is purely a mental issue. For strikers this is always the case. That’s part of a career." Maybe one thing one can tend to forget, and that is Mario Gomez's age. The VfB Stuttgart striker is 23 and Bierhoff said, "He has a great career in front of him. He is young. We have to give him time." Well, until something happens along the way, whatever Die Welt said of the Stuttgart striker ahead of the match against Liechtenstein on Saturday summed up the situation. In regards to the 'curse' of Euro 2008 is still hanging over Gomez. That miss against Austria in Vienna during Euro 2008. Unfortunately, that is how the rest of the world remember him.
For all the talk of Mario Gomez and not scoring when he is with the national team (I do feel sorry for the VfB Stuttgart striker, considering the number of matches for the national team he has not found the net and he is actually one of my most favourite players at the club I support), he has this to say on an interview on Eurosport, "Of course, the whistles hurt. I know how it is and it would be different had I scored. I just need to start putting the ball over the line."
On the team news side of things, Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is fit to face Wales despite picking up a groin strain last weekend. Bayern Munich's Schweinsteiger scored Germany's third goal in the 4-0 win over minnows Liechtenstein in Leipzig on Saturday, but missed Monday's training session as a precautionary measure to help his groin recover. And Hamburg winger Piotr Trochowski, who scored the winner against the Welsh in Germany's 1-0 World Cup qualifier win last October, is fit for selection having missed the Liechtenstein win with a knee injury. Not only that, Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Rene Adler is definitely not going to be part of the travelling squad to Cardiff as he has already been ruled out.
I know I usually do not go ga-ga over a footballer but even as a Germany supporter, I swear I almost squealed when I read that Aaron Ramsey is expected to make his full debut for Wales against the Germans on Wednesday at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. I know Ramsey who has been touted as the next most exciting prospect in Welsh football after Ryan Giggs at Manchester United, having only figured just 20 times in an Arsenal shirt this term - 11 times as a substitute - with his Champions League cameo appearances the high point...but, the 18-year-old former Cardiff City player almost joined the club I support when it comes to the Premier League in Manchester United. I still cannot believe Arsenal signed him from under our noses. Well!
And to end the entry, the entry title actually came from Duffy's song of the same title. She is actually Welsh. Yeah, me being topical here. With the match taking place in Cardiff. Who knows what may happen then.
