Euro ’08, Semi-final 1: Germany v Turkey. Who got that right?!
The first 2 matches of the quarter-finals stage has now ended, with copious amounts of drama.
At the halfway mark, it’s the match day underdogs who have emerged victorious, while the pre-match favourites succumbed to either the pressure of the big stage or to just a change in fortunes. No wonder they call FOOTBALL the most exciting team sport in the world….
Germany pipped as the tournament favourites initially, were proven by Croatia in the league stages, that they could be beaten and beaten with ease… The Croats had shown tremendous speed in their forward runs, especially at counter-attacks, that got the Germans stupefied, and one of the strongest defense line-ups were obliterated and almost pushed into oblivion.
They had a discoloured comeback against Austria, where they were on the back foot at most times, with only a moment of brilliance from inspirational captain Michael Ballack getting them past the Austrians and into the quarter-finals.
Going in to the quarter-finals without coach Joachim Low, who was suspended in their last league match, was not their only worry. The Germans have been followed throughout the trip by the ghost of the Holocaust, with slurs from the crowd and even the media, especially those of Austria and Poland. With one Polish tabloid going as far as to calling for the heads of the German players to be severed for the atrocities of Hitler and his brain-dead Nazis. It reached its climax, when a Swiss television network during the German National Anthem, which was so patriotically ritualised by Ballack & Co., gaffed by trickling in the subtitles of the old Nazi Anthem, an ‘error’ the network quickly said was inexcusable and found their scapegoats in 2 junior copy editors.
The Germans obviously could not undo the grave atrocities of their ancestors. They could not rewrite history.
Through all of this unwarranted racial slurs, not one word in defense nor in retaliation came from the German camp. They prepared to take all of this and bury it with their game against Portugal. Their mental toughness was unmatched and emerged deserved winners with a thumping 3-2 victory, mowing down the Portuguese, and leaving their ever animate coach Felipe Scolari, desolate...
In the other quarter-finals, Turkey, the 11th hour specialists, who championed into the quarter-finals by desoiling the Czech and Swiss machineries in the league stage with last minute goals, were up against the effervescent coach Slaven Bilic and his pacey, organised Croatian team.
The Croats drew first blood through Ivan Klasnic’s header late into the second half of the extra-time, with only seconds left, and it seemed like the Turks were given a taste of their own bitter medicine and being handed with a last minute defeat. But, there was another twist, with Turkey's Semih Senturk scoring of, what was probably, the last play of the game, to equalise and take the Croats right down to the wire and into penalties...
Spot kicks are never a just way of deciding a winner, and yet one knows it’s the only way a winner can be chosen. It was the Croats who were left heart-broken at the end, of what was a dreadful 90 minutes of regular time culminating in high action drama. The Turks were exultant as their reserve Goalkeeper Rustu Recber, who came in place of the suspended Volkan Demirel, saved the decisive kick from Mladen Petric.
With 2 more quarter-finals to go, Netherlands and Spain would look neither to emulate the Portuguese complacency nor the Croatian indiscipline.
Although the Spain-Italy match is too close to call, you’d expect The Oranje to pile drive the Russians, deep into the Earth’s core.
But wait, is there another tack in the trend!!!!!
Anthony Palathingal
2 comments:
May this article be the first among many more to come... Too good dude... Forget science, journalism seems to be the call from within!!!
Just as John Grisham was advised to quit law and become a writer, I think you should give it a go too - rock on...
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