Lehmann gets the party started
- 1 Jul 06, 12:49 AM
MOTORING TOWARDS GELSENKIRCHEN 鈥 The moment Jens Lehmann saved Esteban Cambiasso鈥檚 penalty to send Germany into the World Cup semi-finals, Fletch and I immediately turned on our heels and walked away.
We had to get ourselves to Hamburg鈥檚 stadium for the Italy v Ukraine match, but any thoughts that we were leaving the party were soon quashed by the number of jubilant Germans who joined us on the train.
Throughout the tournament the issue of tickets has been a thorny one for many people, and touts seem to have been quite thin on the ground and their prices high.
On a brief trip to the stadium this morning to pick up our tickets, we were astounded at the number available from people around the ground 鈥 they were not even asking for too much of a mark-up on the face value, a full 10 hours before kick-off.
We wondered whether the ground would actually be full, and with no real sign of a significant contingent of either Ukraine or Italy fans, who exactly would be in the crowd.
Just before the game we encountered Match of the Day reporter Celina Hinchcliffe outside, on the search for English-speaking Ukrainians, with only moderate success.
So who was there?
Germans. Lots of them. And in the mood for celebrating.
We were seated near the travelling band of Ukrainians, but after they were silenced by Zambrotta鈥檚 early goal, chants of 鈥淪tand up if you are a German鈥 got the majority of the crowd 鈥 officially a 50,000 sell-out 鈥 on their feet and Mexican waves began with just 10 minutes on the clock.
I think there was somewhere else they would rather have been.
The district of Hamburg where we watched the game is called Sternschanze and is a narrow, cobbled street lined with bars, frequented by mostly students and some outlandish-looking punks.
There were people spilling out of the doors of the bars with big screens and many drew big crowds with TVs on the street.
It was certainly a busy afternoon for the waitresses, forced to deposit their trays of drinks in the middle of the road and then pass the glasses over people鈥檚 heads to reach the customer.
I spent the first half dodging cars determined to take out the backs of my legs and getting annoyed at the tall German who kept hopping from foot to foot right in eye line with the TV.
A vibrant atmosphere ebbed away when Argentina took the lead, but the hordes found their voices again after Miroslav Klose鈥檚 late equaliser and the tension built until the penalty shoot-out.
Unfortunately, that tension was shattered for us by the curse of the delayed TV signal 鈥 the screams from other bars up the road told us the outcome of each spot-kick before we saw it ourselves.
That鈥檚 why we were on our way as soon as the Germans were through, even missing out on the big ruck at the end 鈥 something that had threatened to break out at various points in the match.
Interestingly, there was no mention of it on the news report I just caught as we passed through a service station.
That caps a rather host-centric day of coverage, what stood out the most from the live match was the lack of any shots at all of Diego Maradona 鈥 I鈥檓 sure he must have been there.
I have to say that although I was quite keen for the Germans to progress, I鈥檓 getting rather worried by the momentum their campaign is attaining 鈥 could they really win it?
Italy were clinical in dispatching Ukraine, although Andriy Shevchenko's side can consider themselves unlucky not to score shortly after half-time when the game was in the balance.
The Azzuri will be a tough nut for Germany to crack, but a little belief can go a long way and the hosts have that now, in abundance.
Comments Post your comment
"could they really win it?" Well, being German I would say, yes. But I'm for sure not objective... :-)
Complain about this post
Two points:
A reporter said, early in the beginning of the game, Maradona left the stadium because he couldn't bring in his friends for free.
Indeed it was on the news. It was the first message right after the Newscast begun. I thought to myself: As there is somebody in Germany who doesn't know.
Hope you enjoy your stay in Germany.
Complain about this post
Lehmann is good,German is great.They are winner.
www.lyricbus.com
Complain about this post
Once the match went to penalties I knew Germany would win with Lehmann being so good at penalties.
I wonder what would happen though should the Italy/Germany semi-final go to penalties with Buffon also a very good penalty stopper.
Complain about this post
Sascha,
Could you please express your emotions in such a way that others might share - at least reasonably evaluate - them.
Or, in other words: What the heck are you talking about?
You like German beer, don't you? Let me advise you: Do not take too much of it one at a time.
Complain about this post
Hi Martin,
really enjoying your blog - it gives me a feel of being back in my old "Heimat".
Just a suggestion as you are motoring towards the "Ruhrgebiet". Gelsenkirchen is a bit of dump - if you are looking for a more lively outdoors/ pub atmosphere, you might want to consider the "Bermuda Dreieck" in Bochum for example.
Rob.
PS. Yes, Bochum is my hometown...
Complain about this post
Against Italy they better do it in 90/120 minutes. I fear their brick wall defence. But shouldn' be a problem to cut out their forwards. What do we get? 0-0?
Complain about this post
You can never write the Germans off and I'm pleased that Arsenal Goalkeeper called Jens Lehhmann was Man of the Match and Saved Germany from defeat!
The German team will give Italy a Tough game and I'm also impresed of Italy as well so Far they have conceded 1 goal in the Tournament!
Italy are now unbeaten in 23 Games and the last time they played Germany they beat them 4-1 but this will be different this time!
If Germany beat Italy it will be by 1 goal Margin or Penalty shoot Out?
Complain about this post
You can never write the Germans off and I'm pleased that Arsenal Goalkeeper called Jens Lehhmann was Man of the Match and Saved Germany from defeat!
The German team will give Italy a Tough game and I'm also impresed of Italy as well so Far they have conceded 1 goal in the Tournament!
Italy are now unbeaten in 23 Games and the last time they played Germany they beat them 4-1 but this will be different this time!
If Germany beat Italy it will be by 1 goal Margin or Penalty shoot Out?
Complain about this post
Kevin,
i expect an even game with Italy going for full 120 min and penalty shoot out. who will win? germany of course ;-)
By the way: i wonder if there is any connection between the fact, that a german has invented the penalty shoot out, and the results of the german team?
Complain about this post
Rolf
Don't know what you are talking about. Please explain.
Complain about this post
Regarding the thing after the game, you can read all about it on the pages of your German colleagues here:
This bit says that the FIFA is going to look further into the incident which apparently has been started by Leandro Damian Cufre who was kicking Per Mertesacker right after the penalty shoot out. That's when the trouble began. What the cameras captured were Roberto Ayala and Oliver Bierhoff shortly after that. And yes it was an ugly and unworthy scene. Nobody wants to see players behave like Hooligans. I guess that's why German TV did not show this for much longer. Such scenes make me sad. Bierhoff was trying to intervene and stop it all. Cufre btw. saw the red card for his behaviour after the game was over...
Complain about this post
I just see hand of God against Argentina like 1998. In 1998, a member of Arsenal, Dennis Bergkamp stopped Argentina and this time another Arsenal man Lehmann. Like milions of people in SOuth Asia I feel heart broken.
Yesterday, in some areas of Bangladesh there was no electricity and
they used
to know the latest score but of no avail. I guess
Argentina should encourage their players to play in Arsenal and then they can do
better in 2010.
Complain about this post
Martin,
obviously you found it somewhat strange, if this is the right word, Germans excessively celebrating the end of the match against Argentina.
Can't you imagine the same happening in Britain with England being the host nation and having had a glorious start after some futile years of their national team? It'll turn out okay for your English team, you just wait and see. But just put in a little bit of empathy.
Complain about this post
Look at this picture, if you want to see what started the trouble after the game:
Disgusting!
Complain about this post
Bye bye Argentina, and good riddance. Once again these guys prove that they cannot take defeat in a noble manner.
From what I have heard the post-match 'incident' started like this:
- Argentine players kicked the whole thing off by making sounds and speaking loudly in Spanish while the Germans were taking their penalties.
- on making his spot-kick to make it 4-2, Tim Borowski - a tall, blond lad - put his index finger to his lips, in effect telling the Argies to shut it.
- after Cambiasso missed his kick to finish the contest, Cufre - wanting to take a bit out of the guy who had told him and his amigos to shut up, went after a tall, blond guy - and lauched himself at Per Mertesacker who was on his way to congratulate Jens Lehmann.
- Olli Neuville and Gerry Asamoah, having witnessed this assault, ran straight to the striken Mertesacker only to then see a crowd develop around them. Olli Bierhoff then tried to intervene.
Just like in 1990, the Argentinians really don't like it when they are on the receiving end. I feel sorry for the genuine sportsmen they do have in their side, but the likes of Daniel Cufre do not belong on this sort of sporting stage.
Complain about this post
Is there anyone in football more loathsome than Jens Lehmann, with his stony David Hasselhoff face and his little bald patch? He's arrogant, blinkered and very good at penalties. If there were any justice in the world, he would be attacked by hordes of angry wasps.
Complain about this post
Lehmann is definatley a very strange guy, yesterday he headed straight into the locker after the match instead of partying on the pitch.
But he is just more of a silent type, which could be misunderstood as arrogance.
Complain about this post
I suspect that Lehmann is not actually human. Perhaps he rushed back to the locker room because the alien technology that made him appear human was running out of batteries (after all, it was extra time and penalties). Back in the changing room, he recharged the machine that prevents us from detecting his extra-terrestrial form.
Complain about this post
please
Sven I beg you don't give them a half time pep talk. Leave it to Neville
Cheers
(J-Cole 2-0
Complain about this post
As Lehmann's machinist I can assure you that his batteries weren't the problem.
We activated his special penalty mode (see the TV footage where he got the old-fashined punch card with the control sequence that he needed to insert into his right sock).
And well, we couldn't turn that mode off. So, to avoid that he started to jump left and right while celebrating on the pitch we need to get him in the locker.
Complain about this post
Dear Greg S.,
to me, your english goalie David Seaman always seemed to be arrogance incarnate, yet I found him brilliant. Thus, could your strange remarks be hints of secret admiration for the german goalkeeper? Ha, I bet it's fear ;)
Anyhoo, on another note, one of the entry's paragraphs above talks about Celina Hinchcliffe's search for any english speaking Ukrainian fans ('with moderate success'). The naivet茅 of the english speaking world never ceases to amaze me. It would be a good bet to assume that most Eastern Europeans know german. Hence, if the reporter had been knowledgable of the language of the country she's currently reporting from, her success rate might have been much better. If the 主播大秀's job requirements for foreign assignments don't include experience with the language of the country they're sending people to, the least they could do is provide them with freelance interpreters. Otherwise, how can they assure the accuracy of news delivered from those countries?
Complain about this post
teutonicaUK, David Seaman had many faults (getting caught off his line, that moustache, that ponytails, his love of fishing, playing for Arsenal) but arrogance was not one of them.
I dislike Lehmann for many reasons: his likeness to Hasselhoff, his extraterrestrial origins, the fact that (like Seaman) he plays for Arsenal, but mainly for the fact that in the Premiership, if any attacker gets within 10 feet of him, he rolls to the ground as if shot, then jumps up and tries to start a fight with someone.
Complain about this post
As a rule I despise the German tabloid BILD (similar to THE SUN, just a few inches less primitive).
Having said that, I still cannot refrain from reporting the feat they have done on the front page of today's issue.
It presents a photo of a dashing Lehmann, his gloved hands close to the camera, and the giant caption reads: THIS IS O U R HAND OF GOD !
Complain about this post
@Greg S
I take it, you're not an Arsenal supporter then? ... It's weird, I totally loathe Hasselhoff but don't see any resemblence to/with Lehmann. Jeez ... you have issues, man.
Complain about this post