Germany 4 - Spain
1
By our international
correspondent Borja Pantzov
Germany: Kahn;
Rehner, Nowotny (Beinlich 46'), Heinrich (Linke 68'); Deisler, Ballack (Hamman
80'), Ramelow, Bode; Scholl (Neuville 68'); Jancker (Rink 75'), Zickler.
Spain: César;
Velasco (Manuel Pablo 46'), Abelardo, Paco (Iván Campo 46'), Juanfran;
Etxeberria (Rufete 65'), Guardiola, Gerard (Guti 46'), Mendieta (Víctor
46'); Dani (Tamudo 75'), Raúl.
Goals: 1-0. 23. Scholl.
Curled free kick over wall and past outstretched keeper. 2-0. 50. Scholl.
Robbed Iván Campo and took return pass from Jancker. 3-0. 56.
Zickler. Took chipped pass from Jancker and shot through César's legs.
4-0. 62. Zickler. Picked up bad pass by Campo in own half and ran on to
score. 4-1. 68. Raúl. Took cross from right, beat player and chipped
over Kahn.
Hello again, Borja Pantzov
here again. Those nice people from Soccer-Spain have asked me to keep you
informed of the progress of our national selection (Spain that is) as they try
to get over the disaster in the Euro 2000 championship and start their build up
for the 2002 World cup.
Well, the calendar has been
fixed for the qualifying games, and imagine our surprise when they announced
the first game against Bosnia for 2nd September, with a friendly match two
weeks before on 16th August. I mean, where are you going to find a team in
Spain in August, when the whole country is on the beach? Camacho did his best
and eventually managed to convince 18 fine young men to board a plane to
Germany, but he was on a loser from the start. Given that, I suppose his
selection policy was logical - think about players who will be part of the
future and concentrate on players who have at least played some football in the
last couple of weeks, even if it was only head tennis on the Costa Brava. In
the end, he picked a squad which only included eight players from the 22 man
squad he took to the Euro 2000 championships. Out went all three goalkeepers,
with Cañizares and Molina out of favour after disappointing displays in
Benelux and Casillas presumably reserved for the Olympics, and in came
César, Real Madrid's new signing who, although he only played two
minutes the other night, did save two penalty kicks. Back came Dani, Guti and
Iván Campo, who had all starred with their clubs pre-season, and three
players who were left out in the end for Euro 2000, Morientes, Juanfran and
Rufete, were called up. There were also first time call ups for four players,
Víctor and Manuel Pablo from Deportivo, Oviedo's goalkeeper Esteban, and
when Morientes pulled out injured, Espanyol's under 21 striker Tamudo was
drafted in. Hierro was left out, and his time seems to be up, and Alfonso was
not considered as he was in the process of signing for Barcelona and had other
things on his mind.
So there we were then, leave
your buckets and spades back in the dressing room and on we went to Hannover.
It shouldn't be too difficult anyway, Camacho thought. Even England beat this
lot in the Euro 2000 championship. But Germany had something to prove, and with
new manager Rudi Voller drawing the short straw and having to take over at
gunpoint (more people applied for the job of Saddam Hussain's food taster than
for Germany's manager), they were determined to salvage their pride. At first
it looked as if Germany were going to give us a hand when a bad back pass from
Deisler brought a fine save out of Kahn. But Germany got on top, and Scholl
opened the scoring with a sweetly struck free kick which left César
clutching at air. The home side could have increased their lead through Bode
and then Jancker, but then Spain got a grip and Etxeberria came close. Mendieta
also had a go before Raúl got the ball in the net, but referee Erik
Fisker from Denmark ruled it out for offside. A pity.
At the break Camacho decided
Spain were doing too well and made four changes (or so it seemed to us). Manuel
Pablo (for Velasco) and Víctor came on for their debuts, and the manager
repeated his mistake in the last game of Euro 2000, taking off Mendieta. Guti
came on for an off-form Gerard, and Iván Campo replaced Paco. A fatal
mistake. True, Iván Campo had been playing well at the end of last
season, but he is prone to make mistakes, and he gifted two goals in 12 minutes
to the Germans. First of all he tripped over the ball trying to dribble it on
the edge of his own penalty area, which left Germany's best player Scholl free
to score, then he hit a bad pass straight at Zickler, who ran from his own half
to beat César. In between Zickler scored another after picking up a
clever pass from Jancker, racing past Manuel Pablo (who ran alongside him as if
he was asking for his autograph), and poking the ball right under
César's legs. It was a disaster, and only Raúl saved any pride
with the best goal of the night, taking a cross from Víctor, turning his
defender, and then chipping a gloriously weighted ball past Kahn into the net.
Raúl's goal could
save Camacho's hide, as the local press bayed for his resignation. Camacho
himself was quite philosophical about it, as if as to say "what did you expect
organising a game during our holidays, and against players who have already
started their league?". In any case he is expected to play a more conventional
side against Bosnia, with several of the Euro 2000 squad returning.
César did nothing wrong, but he also didn't make any great saves, and so
Cañizares or Molina could return. Alfonso or Morientes could come in up
front, and Iván Helguera would be a good addition in defence or
midfield. Camacho will probably also bring back one of his old favourites,
Valerón, who recently signed for Deportivo but who was injured for this
game. Bosnia could be hard nut to crack, and Sarajevo must be a difficult place
to play in though, and anything other than a victory could already mean the end
for Camacho. Join me and my Balkans correspondent Goran Arsic in three weeks
time to find out how it went. In the meantime I'm going back to finish my
holidays. |