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.