| ||||
 |  |
I didn't get to see this game, as it was played simultaneously with England's - only the goals. (but see match report below). I have to say though that I expected Germany not to do too well - but not as badly as they did. Wow! Bottom of the group!! I am positive, however, that this will not be a shock (or disappointment) to the German fans - as they were expecting it. They will no doubt be hoping now, like the English, that perhaps something will at last be done to improve their game.
Portugal, on the other hand - WOW!! Well done Sergio (rumoured to be signing for Parma! :)). Portugal have exceeded even my expectations. I expect them to get past the Turks too. And then, who knows!?!?
Teams and things
GERMANY, the holders of the European championship, could fall no lower. Portugal, with a hat-trick from the superb Sergio Conceiçáo, left them lying broken at the foot of group A and they will not care that England are scarcely feeling any better. Germany began the night with dreams of a place in the last eight. But, like most deathbed repentances, the resolve to change their ways was unconvincing.
PORTUGAL (4-1-3-2): 12 P Espinha (Vitoria Guimaraes; sub: 22 Quim, Braga, 89) - 16 Beto (Sporting Lisbon), 3 Rui Jorge (Sporting Lisbon), 5 F Couto (Lazio), 2 J Costa (FC Porto) - 6 P Sousa (Parma; sub: 4 J Vidigal, Sporting Lisbon, 71) - 11 S Conceiçáo (Lazio), 15 Costinha (Monaco), 19 N Capucho (Porto) - 9 R Sá Pinto (Real Sociedad), 18 Pauleta (Deportívo la Coruña; sub: N Gomes, Benfica, 67). Substitutes not used: 1 V Baía (FC Porto), 7 Luis Figo (Barcelona), 8 J Pinto (unattached), 10 M Rui Costa (Fiorentina), 13 Dimas (Standard Liège), 17 P Bento (Real Oviedo).
GERMANY (4-4-2): 1 O Kahn (Bayern Munich) - 3 M Rehmer (Hertha Berlin), 6 J Nowotny (Bayer Leverkusen), 10 L Matthäus (NY/NJ Metrostars), 4 T Linke (Bayern Munich) - 18 S Deisler (Hertha Berlin), 13 M Ballack (Bayer Leverkusen; sub:11 P Rink, Bayer Leverkusen, 46) 14 D Hamann (Liverpool), 7 M Scholl (Bayern Munich; sub: 8 T Hässler, Munich 1860, 60) - 19 C Jancker (Bayern Munich; sub: 9 U Kirsten, Bayer Leverkusen, 69), 5 M Bode (Werder Bremen). Substitutes not used: 12 J Lehmann (Borussia Dortmund), 22 H Butt (Hamburg), 15 D Wosz (Hertha Berlin), 17 C Ziege (Middlesbrough), 21 C Ramelow (Bayer Leverkusen). Booked: Ballack, Deisler.
Referee: D Jol (Netherlands).
Match Report from "The Times"
They soon relapsed into their recent, abject condition. "I would almost say that Portugal humiliated us," Erich Ribbeck, the Germany coach, stated. He spoke with a steely honesty and will allocate a few more hours for talks with Egidius Braun, the Germany Football Federation president and, presumably, to fine-tune his resignation speech.
He already has a first draft of it. "I am responsible for how the team played," Ribbeck said, thereby making his position untenable. It is the end, too, for Lothar Matthäus, who earned his 150th cap and showed that nothing is left of him as a footballer other than a spirit trapped in a body that is no longer worthy of it.
The deepest hurt is caused unintentionally. Humberto Coelho, the Portugal coach, did not have sadism in mind when he said: "It was a normal victory for us," but the accuracy of the judgment was excruciating for the Germans. Worse still, this was a Portugal team of fringe players - Conceiçáo is actually Luis Figo's understudy.
The idea that they might be losers, the fall guys of the group, is so alien to Germany that it felt as if their very character was being erased. They bungled the exercise of reinventing themselves. The 3-5-2 system is such a part of their modern footballing history that it ought to be honoured with a blue plaque, yet Ribbeck sent them out in 4-4-2 formation. Aggression was the aim, but the tactic left Germany weak in midfield and outnumbered in central defence.
Marcus Bode struck a post after half an hour, but the excitement ebbed away and, by the interval, only the scorn of their supporters remained.
In the 35th minute, Portugal linked up expertly on the left before Pauleta's deflected cross confounded Oliver Kahn, the German goalkeeper, to highlight the courage of Conceiçáo. He ran it at the far post and injured himself as he headed home. For the first time since 1984, when they also failed to progress beyond the group stage at a leading international tournament, Germany were learning what it is to be utterly futile. There was soon no reason for Germany to seek information about England's fate in Charleroi. After 54 minutes, Conceiçáo hit the net again, striking a drive that flew through the legs of the careless Kahn.
Germany's chastisement concluded with Conceiçáo's third goal in the seventieth minute. The zest of his display never wavered and when the ball was laid into his path, he ripped a shot low across Kahn.
The 3-0 scoreline was the same margin by which Croatia vanquished Germany at the 1998 World Cup. Their plight was severe then, but there is deep anguish in the realisation that they have deteriorated further since.
