Day 6: Fireworks in stoppage time
15 June 2006, 10:57
I am glad I’m not in Dortmund right now. The big Germany-Poland match was a tense and fascinating encounter. What made it so exhilarating to watch was the crowd. You could feel the heat of it, even while you watched Univision by yourself in a dark Brooklyn apartment. (For a closer view read Josh Dean’s report from Germany). There was something unsettling about the whole thing. The flags and the colors and the roar. Outside the stadium German police rounded up a few hundred carousers, and the damage seemed fairly minimal. Of course, minimal damage is a relative term. We expected people to throw bottles and rocks and shoot fireworks at the police. No one died.
Onfield, the Germans linked up dangerously in the Poland end, and put together a number of good chances. But Poland stood them up, and kept them off the scoresheet for the full ninety minutes. Poland even went down a man, but they didn’t soften. Eventually, German coach Juergen Klinsmann made three substitutions, trying to unlock the Polish defense. In the 91st minute they paid off. David Odonkor, who was unstoppable on the right side, crossed to fellow-substitute Oliver Neuville who was barreling toward goal. Neuville threw his full body at the ball, and sealed German victory.
Spain’s coach Luis Aragones must have read this newsletter (or any newspaper or stat sheet or random piece of paper in Spain) and realized that his captain Raul hasn’t scored a goal in a while. The Real Madrid striker was left out of the starting lineup against the Ukraine. David Villa took the field instead, with Luis Garcia and Fernando Torres sharing the attack. The move paid off. Villa scored two goals, and Spain crushed the World Cup debutantes, 4-0. But it wasn’t the forwards, even “El Nino” Torres with his baby face and his blond highlights, that looked impressive. It was the dominant midfield. Xavi (not to be confused with Xabi Alonso) orchestrated things. He passed to Xabi Alonso who headed in for the first goal and worked well with newcomer Marcos Senna. Senna unfortunately lacks an “x” in his name, but he’s got everything else. He made delightful, unexpected passes and curled the ball wickedly toward goal.
Spain seemed unstoppable, and already the pundits are getting behind them. Could this be the year that they beat the Spanish curse, which has kept them from progressing past the quarterfinals? Perhaps, we should remember that they dominated the group stage in 2002, scoring nine goals and winning all three games.
Over in Munich, after an well-struck goal and some early chances, Tunisia looked like they might make quick work of Saudi Arabia. In the second half, though, the Saudis equalized and took control. Then in the closing minutes they took the lead. The game went into stoppage time. One minute, two minutes, three minutes. Poor Tunisia. But wait! Rhadi Jaidi picks up the ball. He sends it out to the wing. It’s crossed back in, and Jaidi heads it home. Tunisia 2 – 2 Saudi Arabia.
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The Torres “golazo” is the goal of the tourney so far, with a slight edge over Frings’ against the Ticos. Full credit to Puyol who took possession, made a lovely turn, dumped it to Cesc and headed the return pass perfectly in El Nino’s path.
marca.com has painstakingly animated reconstructions of the goals that I fully recommend.
— Joe · 15 June 2006, 12:02 · #
Wanted to give you all a heads up that Romanian tennis baddie Ilie Nastase is sweeping FIFA’s celebrity fantasy league besting the likes of such “luminaries” as Ronald McDonald and Finnish snowboarding phenom Markku Koski. Take a look here.
— Mike · 15 June 2006, 17:20 · #