The Germans Are Coming

The Germans Are Coming

If we go through the history and the heaps of movies, of the world wars and there is just one sentence that sent shivers down the spines of Europeans at the start of both the world wars, “The Germans are coming”. This one sentence would send the entire neighbourhood scampering for cover though no cover would be enough to save them. The whole of Europe dreaded the very idea of coming face to face with the Germans and nearly eight decades later history is repeating itself, this time not on the war front but on the football field. World cup 2010, has certainly brought back those memories to life. Germany’s 4-1 bombardment of the Australians in their very first match, gave us enough clues of what was to come but, even then we did not give them much of a chance, then some erroneous decisions by the referee stole the charm of their match against Slovakia which they lost 0-1, then the sheer determination and then speed of the “Black Pearls” who really fought bravely, but in end, had to come second best with 0-1 defeat. At this point most people were of 50/50 opinion for their match against the highly overrated Englishmen but, on that fateful day Germany were completely a different team from their previous two matches. The Germans let the English know that stars alone do not make a winning combination and taught them a lesson or two on the basics of football in their 4-1 trashing of the Englishmen. With the demolition of their highly overrated European rivals England, they sent a message across the football world that their best was yet to come. As sure as day follows night, it happened in the next game against Argentina, till that round the Argentineans had not lost a single match and had comfortably won all their group matches and then they met Mexico where again some dubious decisions by the referee against the Mexicans served the match on a platter to Argentina for a 3-1 win. By now speculations were the order of the day and though a lot of people thought the match could go either way with a minimum of goal difference, but what unfolded shocked the entire football world where the Germans ripped the mighty Argentineans to shreds, so much so that the best player in world football today, Messi was a mere spectator and the hard working Tevez looked like a wounded bull running into brick walls of the German defense. The Germans over ran Argentina 4-0 and I am sure the Spaniards must have heard the cry “The Germans are coming” As I analyzed the match I just could not hide my awe at the turn in German football. I have been a football fan from the time I was a small kid, and as I played for my school we were shown a lot of the old world football classic, I always enjoyed the south Americans and even the Hungarians but hated the long passes followed by the looping crosses which were mostly converted into goals by the Germans, they use to be very physical too, to tell the truth even now I never like watching Bundesliga matches, but this world cup has changed it all, and I am sure the long term thinking of the Germans to pick a very young team has changed the face of German football. Due credit must be given to Joachim Low for providing us with some fantastic football. On the other hand the woes of the eccentric Maradona will continue, watching his team being trashed, he just did not have a clue, what to do next, this is what happens when a coach has just one plan. Maradona did not have any plan B or plan C, his one and only plan was Messi nothing more and nothing less, is cases like this the true credibility of the coaches come to the fore and I am sorry to say that Maradona may have been a genius on the field, the best ever human being to play football but as a coach he lacked basic coaching qualities. We all saw what Jose Mourinho did with ten men to the ferociously talented Barcelona team in the semi finals of the Champions League Cup, that is what coaches should be, all well planned and exquisitely executed. Now with just three matches to go in this 2010World Cup, the winds of speculation have changed and I can clearly say that there can be only one champion, the Germans have come and come to stay at the end I will say well done Germany, I am made to eat my words that German football was boring and “Danke Deutschland für das Spielen des aufregenden Fußballs” (thank you Germany for playing exciting football) Hope you’ll play even better and win the World Cup - Alles beste (all the best).


Freddy Agnelo Fernandes
Nuem, Canacona/Dubai, UAE