One Year and two Days ago: Goose Bumps

By: Jan | June 16th, 2007

Goose Bumps Apparently I don’t manage to publish those posts in time for their first anniversary. Probably I should just make it a habit to have them trail behind by two days every time. One year and two days ago Germany played Poland in their second group match of the World Cup 2006. As I pointed out in my first post, I consider it to be my favorite match of the tournament. Very clearly this hasn’t anything to do with any measurable qualities of the actual match. For the objective observer, who doesn’t have any emotional ties with Poland or Germany, it probably qualified as just one of those World Cup group matches. For me however it was the quintessential match for both the team and its supporters. The match that definitively triggered the euphoria that could be seen across the country. The match that gave people hope that this team could actually achieve something nobody would have expected. I admit that it sounds a bit melodramatic, but I can’t think of a more accurate way to put it at the moment. The first match against Costa Rica was sort of an enjoyable ride. It looked like Germany won it quite confidently in the end, but a lot of questions remained concerning the shaky defense. Especially since Costa Rica was supposed to be the weakest team in the group. Poland would be the real test of character. And for Poland it turned out to be an all or nothing match. They surprisingly lost their opening match against Ecuador and thus needed at the very least a draw to remain in the competition. Germany on the other hand could have drawn the game or even loose it while still maintaining every chance to advance to the next round. But with everything that happened in the run up to the tournament, including the humiliating defeat against Italy and the less than convincing performances in the other friendlies, it would have reinforced all the doubts people had and proven the critics right. The psychological effect it could have had on the team itself can’t be underestimated either.

The match turned out to be an extreme lesson in delayed gratification. A bit of a one sided affair. Poland didn’t manage to cause a lot of trouble for the German backline and Jens Lehmann, but put up a good tactical defensive performance. Both Podolski and Klose had some great chances but failed to convert them or were denied by the Polish goalkeeper who played a great game. The match became more and more frustrating for the German supporters. The clock ran down, the tension grew, then Klose hit the crossbar, Ballack did the same and Odonkor scored from an offside position. They thought it was all over, but David Odonkor still had one Speedy Gonzalez move in him and just moments later delivered a low cross into box which Oliver Neuville put into the net to save the day. Then something happened that most fans and reporters still fail to cope with intellectually, so that the closest to describing the feeling usually involves the astrophysical (big bang) and the sexually explicit (orgasmic).

Meanwhile Jürgen and Joachim could pat themselves on the back for their perfect choice of substitutes (Neuville for Podolski and Odonkor for Friedrich). One day later the humbled press would do the same.

Now, where do the goose bumps come into play? For those people who had the privilege to be in the stadium it clearly would have been the atmosphere there that could cause such a reaction. For me and my friends however it wasn’t something that happened while watching the match live. Watching it again weeks, months or a year later is what gives us the chills. I’ve recently read about the match in some articles and comments on the web where people describe their experience in exactly the same way. It’s not just the match itself but everything it stands for and that is connected to it I guess.

Below is a short highlight video and the last few minutes of the match leading up to the goal by Neuville. I could watch that goal all day and will probably do so once I’ve finished this blog post. The World Cup Blog Liveblog for the match is here.