Tuesday, June 29, 2010

World Cup 2010: Germany realised England were there for the taking after six minutes

Miroslav Klose probably did not mean to rub it in. Indeed, he seemed the model of modesty the day after helping Germany expose once again the fraudulent conceit of English international footballing prowess. 

World Cup 2010: Germany realised England were done for after six minutes, says Miroslav Klose
Leading the line: Miroslav Klose made a mockery of England's defence Photo: EPA
Yet with one brutal observation, he particularly wounded.
"We were talking together before as a team and thought that the famous '40 years of hurt' could come into play here, that this England team could be the one that at last ended that wait," he said. "Yet we realised after six or seven minutes that 'no, they're not really up to it' and 'we can beat them'."
and outfighting Matthew Upson, could not help but paint a damning comparison between his side, blending exhilarating youth with old pro nous, and an outfit of 11 disparate, redshirted individuals.
"If you look at the names, one against one, you'd have to consider England as stronger than us. On paper, they were more renowned, more famous, but that didn't translate into their performance.
"England have fantastic players. In the dressing room, we asked ourselves 'is this England team better than their Premier League teams?' Simple answer, yes. Look at their players; they're world class, that's the long and short of it. Yet the key thing is presenting yourself as a team and I don't think England did."
It was also, he felt, down to a self-belief which has imprinted itself on German World Cup sides for nearly three generations.
From where did this confidence emanate, he was asked. "Good question," he shrugged. "It's down to a certain quality we know we possess. You see it every day in training, the importance of being a true team. This is what helped us take the winds out of England's sails."
This repetition of the theme only rammed home the comparison. Klose was the perfect team man in Bloemfontein, a selfless leader of the line who seemed to be freed from his miserable season's labours as soon as he donned his national shirt for the 99th time, while so many of England's players appeared to find the weight of the red shirt utterly oppressive.
"Well, I think my real strength is being able to focus when it really counts," he said. Quite. Here is a man with, say, not a tenth of Wayne Rooney's natural ability but, like his team-mates, is seemingly able to make much more of his talents at major championships.
So, read Klose's amazing goal scoring statistics and then do a double take.
Fifty goals from 99 internationals - only Gerd Muller (68 from 62 internationals) and GDR's Joachim Streich (55 from 98) have netted more for Germany - and now 12 goals in World Cups to equal Pele. Muller? Pele? Klose is the first to find it unreal to be bracketed with such grandees.
But while he accepts this could be his last World Cup - "As far as my legs carry me, I'll try to carry on playing football but I'm very impulsive and wouldn't put it past myself in two or three weeks time to just step aside and give room for new players" - he has an ominous message for those hoping to see the gulf between German and English teams reduced.
"We've a lot of young players who've just come through the youth ranks but just playing here gives them a wealth of experience on their CV and these guys could all be active, the backbone of the team, in eight years time. That would be a great result for Germany." And, potentially, another wretched one for England.

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