UEFA: Detached From Ordinary Fans

UEFA’s decision to punish Atletico Madrid for racism and disorganisation during their Champions League match with Marseille last month was all very well and good. However, by opting to immediately apply a three-match stadium ban, they confirmed their complete detachment from the reality of ordinary fandom.

Who exactly in UEFA thought it acceptable to move a game that numerous travelling fans had already made arrangements for 300 kilometres from the Spanish capital? Who decided that it was entirely appropriate to announce this decision just eight days before the game was due to take place? I think we should be told.

It’s staggering, but not entirely surprising, that UEFA could be so completely divorced from the ordinary fan. Thankfully, UEFA backed down when the inevitable uproar ensued and allowed the match to go ahead as originally planned.

That said, there was some irony in the bleatings of Liverpool fans. Though they were blackguarded by UEFA this time around, perhaps now they know what it must have felt like for fans of other English clubs when those clubs’ fans were criminally punished for the actions of a minority of their own.

With the gleeful support of Margaret Thatcher’s crusade against the working class, the spineless English FA capitulated to a perverse politically correct and legally incorrect ban on all English clubs after the Heysel disaster. Any club that deemed to argue their open and shut case was ostracised for putting their own trivial interests ahead of the 39 who died in Brussels – even though those tragic and preventable deaths had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the other English clubs.

Imagine such a scenario today, where Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United would be banned from Europe after a riot that involved Chelsea and meekly agreed to exclusion from the Champions League. Too right, you can’t. This is one instance where we can safely say that the shift in the balance of power between officials and clubs is a good thing.

Football DVD: Campionato Io Ti Amo – 1985/86

Gazzetta Dello Sport recently released a 30-disc celebration of “the most beautiful championship in the world”. Campionato Io Ti Amo celebrates Italian football from 1978 to the current day with a disc for each season charting a somewhat poignant journey in Italian and European football.

Serie A opened the door to foreigners in 1980 and soon became the greatest league in the world. By the mid 1980s, almost every top footballer plied his trade in Italy. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine any league being as full of top-class stars as Serie A was. There was Diego Maradona at Napoli, Michel Platini at Juventus, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge at Inter, Zico at Udinese, Roberto Falcao at Roma, Boniek, Brady, Passarella, Socrates, Careca, Laudrup… the list goes on and on. Imagine Messi, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ronaldinho playing in the same league every week – and you’re only half-way there.

That’s because the Italian league was also the most defensive in world football manned by world champions like Gentile, Scirea, Bergomi, and Baresi rather than your Titus Brambles or Jean-Alain Boumsongs. Any goal was a triumph. Therefore, when one was netted, it was rarely the result of suspect defending and more likely the progeny of brilliant inspiration. Essentially, only the best foreigners were signed – Luther Blisset being the exception that proved the rule.

The 1985/86 edition captures Serie A at its peak. Platini wins his last scudetto, Rummenigge has the most injury-free season of his three-year Italian sojourn, and Maradona emerges as the all-conquering icon that will dazzle the planet in Mexico.

The footage is taken from RAI’s coverage of the time and, naturally, is presented in Italian. Running time is 75 minutes for the main programme with bonus extras taking the whole package near to 100. As a reminder of times gone by – and of what Serie A used to be like (simultaneous afternoon kick-offs, 0-0 draws punctuated by brilliance, Diadora footballs, the Turin Communale…), this is hard to beat.

Jürgen Klinsmann: The Emperor’s New Clothes

Here’s more from June, 2005 when I wrote for GOAL.com. I was in Germany at the time and covered the Confederations Cup. My opinion of Klinsmann is looking ever more sound in the light of current events in Bavaria…

Behind The Wall: The Emperor’s New Clothes

So that’s it for another two year’s then. The Confederations’ Cup is only truly meaningful in the year preceding the World Cup finals. With Germany hosting the big show next summer, the tournament was always going to be of more importance to Jürgen Klinsmann than to any other coach. What did we find out about the Nationalmannschaft? Quite a lot, actually, but we’ll never find out what we truly need to know as long as Klinsmann persists with his particularly vacuous style of management.

The main criticism levelled at the German team over the past few weeks has been that of defensive vulnerability. Yet, I feel this is somewhat akin to stating the blindingly obvious and still missing the point. Leaving philosophies of play aside, a defence in its most stripped-down form comprises the complete back line as well as the goalkeeper. With Philipp Lahm and Christoph Metzelder likely starters next summer, Germany was already without half of Klinsmann’s ideal back four though injury. Of course, it almost goes without saying that it was also without its regular goalkeeper – Oliver Kahn playing only the once prior to the Mexican third-place match.

Defensive solidity is based on familiarity. In my view, you cannot rotate a goalkeeper in the ludicrous manner that Klinsmann employs without destabilising the whole unit. The relationship between a goalkeeper and his sweeper or centre-half is pivotal to leadership and organisation at the back. Without stability, there is no routine organisation. Per Mertesacker and Robert Huth have been asked to lead from the back as boys with absolutely no assistance from the man in goal – simply because there’s not been a man in goal, there have been three!

Klinsmann is making a fundamental error in refusing to select his number one now. While he claims Kahn is that man, he brazenly insists on holding his non-sensical competition for the number one shirt all the way to next May. Yes, Huth and Mertesacker must really feel at ease knowing that the man behind them will be chopped and changed all the way to through next season.

The pyschology of the goalkeeper is unique. This is the one position on the field where confidence is vital – the confidence, that is, of your coach and team-mates. A goalkeeper will inevitably make mistakes, it’s a by-product of the human condition. However, he must be able to play without fear knowing that he will not be hung out to dry when he does slip-up. Kahn, Jens Lehmann, and Timo Hildebrand do not have that confidence, and they know any slip now will see them out of the reckoning. A nervy goalkeeper does not convey stature and a sense of calm to his boy defenders. Huth and Mertesacker, inexperienced as it is, are therefore further undermined by the misjudgement of their inexperienced coach.

However, don’t take my word for it. Take that of Ottmar Hitzfeld, the former Dortmund and Bayern coaching great. This week, Hitzfeld told Kicker: “I’m not sure continuously changing the goalkeeper is a particularly good move.” Jupp Derwall, one of Klinsmann’s illustrious predecessors, believes a “defined hierarchy would certainly be better.” Former German number one Harald Schumacher, a European Championship winner with Derwall in 1980, and one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation who fought a successful selection battle with Hamburger SV’s Uli Stein in his heyday says: “I’m not in agreement with it.” He should know, as his competition with Stein eventually led to the HSV man being sent home from the 1986 World Cup finals in frustration.

And therein lies the problem. The man that loses out next May will brood dementedly having had his hopes cruelly dashed at the last moment. His frustration will erase his focus and he will fester like a seething boil in a World Cup squad distracted by his disappointment and resentment. If anything happens then to the number one…

The number one, meanwhile, will not have played enough matches with the first choice defence in the build up to the competition, and will feel that his position is vulnerable at best. The truth for him will be obvious. Klinsmann doesn’t actually have any great confidence in any of his goalkeepers. Only a selection battle can make his mind up for him, for if the chosen one was obvious, he would have been chosen in the blink of an eye.

Klinsmann is making a rod for his own back. If his anointed stopper makes a mistake next summer, the coach will be accused of undermining confidence or of making the wrong choice. Rudi Völler could take no blame for Kahn’s World Cup final faux pas in Japan. Klinsmann will not be spared if his number one – whoever that may be – blunders under the German sun in 2006.

Brian A. O’Driscoll, June 29, 2005

Jürgen Klinsmann: Quelle Surprise!

Jürgen Klinsmann has had a rotten start as new Bayern Munich coach. Those of you familiar with my opinion of the man during my time in Germany as GOAL.com Bundesliga correspondent won’t be surprised that I’m not. Here’s an article I wrote for my Behind The Wall column on June 22, 2005 when Klinsmann was the revolutionary Bundestrainer preparing the German national team for the World Cup.

Nine goals, two wins, and a draw in three matches might seem an impressive return for Jürgen Klinsmann and his young German charges at this Confederations’ Cup. Brian O’ Driscoll sees much to be upbeat about but remains sceptical of the Bundestrainer’s methods in his latest editorial from Berlin.

Behind The Wall: Carry On Klinsmann

A win is a win. That pretty much summed up the public attitude of Germany coach Jürgen Klinsmann in the wake of last week’s inglorious defeat of Australia in Frankfurt. While those around him sought to question the vulnerability of his youthful defence, Klinsmann labelled his side „brilliant“ and talked-up his team’s less than impressive display.

This has been the motif of the Klinsmann reign. Everybody is praised, good performances become „great“ ones, and poor shows are treated as aberrations. As a player, the former Stuttgart, Inter, Monaco, Tottenham, and Bayern Munich man was a study in effervescence, a triumph of wilfulness over technical craft. As a coach, Klinsmann has taken his inherent characteristics and tried to sculpt a team in his own image. Sadly for him, and for Germany, the coach’s role relies more on inherent skill than on good-hearted bluster. Klinsmann, for all his optimism is running out of time and out of believers.

This is a man who spends his time in California, watches his players on television, and leaves assistant Jogi Löw to follow the fortunes of his chosen 33 at close quarters. This is also a man who believes fundamentally in American-style sports psychology and has gone so far as to replace Germany’s traditional green second strip with a bright red number because red is apparently more intimidating. Really, Jürgen, have you forgotten that yellow, the colour of cowardice, is worn by Brazil? This kind of thinking might impress the myopic, but for this observer the jury is well and truly out (and partying with Michael Jackson) on his performance to date.

His insistence on a 4-4-2 formation smacks of his admiration for the British style of play. Indeed, his time in England has fostered a huge respect for that country’s league championship, apparently leading to a misguided belief in Thomas Hitzlsperger and Jens Lehmann, mediocre Premiership performers at the best of times. Hitzlsperger has had the unenviable task of filling in at left-back during this Confederations’ Cup and has coped as admirably as a midfield player might be expected to. Klinsmann’s reluctance to play a full-back there suggests that the injured Philipp Lahm has absolutely no challengers should he return to fitness in time for the World Cup.

Klinsmann’s love of the English game has also seen him impose a 4-4-2 formation on players more accustomed to thee at the back sweeper systems. The youthful defensive pairing of Robert Huth and Per Mertesacker has looked vulnerable in this tournament for a number of reasons. Lack of experience, lack of familiarity with each other, and lack of comfort in Klinsmann’s chosen formation have all conspired to make two very promising young players look very ordinary indeed.

Two early wins in the tournament and seven goals in the process cosmetically masked the reality that modest Australia put the German defence to the sword, while the game Tunisians were a match for their hosts for 75 competitive minutes in Köln. Until then, Germany huffed and puffed and replicated their wretched Euro 2004 display against Latvia to perfection. Inviting chances were spurned, and the opposition looked just as likely to break the deadlock in the baking sun before Michael Ballack converted a penalty and eased home nerves.

Part of the reason for such ineptitude lies with the personnel employed by the coach. For reasons best known to himself, Klinsmann perseveres with the game but mediocre Gerald Asamoah when it is obvious to all that the Schalke man is nothing more than a willing runner. Put simply, Asamoah is not up to it at this level, and the fact that Klinsmann – who was – cannot see this is disconcerting.

In all honesty, only Lukas Podolski of the German forwards is worthy of the honour of representing his country and possibly, with time, extending the historic lineage of greatness established by Helmut Rahn, Uwe Seeler, Gerd Müller, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and Rudi Völler to name but the most obvious. Yet, Klinsmann seems to admire something about Asamoah’s game. To this observer, it is the honest selflessness and enthusiasm that the Ghana-born forward brings to the squad that his coach most respects. Perhaps Klinsmann even sees himself in the burly striker. Nevertheless, despite his goal against Argentina, Asamoah possesses none of Klinsmann’s raw ability around the box.

On the brighter side, there are a number of plusses to be taken from the group games. Bastian Schweinsteiger has come through in recent matches to make a midfield position his own. His goal against Tunisia on Saturday was magnificent testimony to his talent. However, he must overcome a tendency to predictably cut inside every time he attacks on the flanks.

The man who helped set up that goal with a beautifully-weighted through-ball, Podolski, is now Germany’s number one striker, whatever the claims of the over-rated Kevin Kuranyi. The Schalke man could not have dreamed of the pass that Podolski executed so effortlessly, though now possesses an impressive statistical record in a German shirt. His game is relatively ineffective outside the box and he is living off the happy tendency of being in the right place at the right time. Nevertheless, when the goals dry up, he offers precious little else to the team.

For now it’s so far so good on the results front. But it’s not about results right now. It’s about performances. While Podolski and Schweinsteiger have shown that they will develop into formidable players, Klinsmann must get the fundamentals right to build upon their potential by this time next year. I, for one, have my doubts he can.

Brian A. O’Driscoll, June 22, 2005

Ballon D’Or 2008: A Messi Case

The Ballon D’Or, Golden Ball, or erstwhile European Footballer of the Year award is the most prestigious individual honour in football. France Football first elected Stanley Matthews as Europe’s best player in 1956, and each year since has seen the award grow in significance. By the late 1980s, it was the unrivaled pinnacle of the European game for those seeking confirmation of greatness.

FIFA – as is their wont – tried to muscle in the early 1990s and attempted to take advantage of the fact that the France Football prize was limited to players from Europe by inaugurating the FIFA World Player of the Year award. That, however, was holed under the bow for two reasons.

First, there’s the simple fact that journalists are better judges of a player’s annual form than myopic coaches who insist on picking either their own players or those whom they are familiar with – usually over-the-top former heroes whose best days have long since gone. Second, France Football could always change the rules to allow players operating in the UEFA zone to become eligible for consideration. Let’s face it, no top-class player meriting consideration plays anywhere other than in Europe. No, not even washed-up underwear models.

Just last year, France Football went the whole hog and decided to change the title of the award to Ballon D’Or. This ended the anomalous situation which pertained when, say, a South American won the title of European Footballer of the Year.

In determining the annual winner of this award, it is worth understanding that there are two types of year: those with major international tournaments, and those without. Awards in the former tend to be won by the dominant player of the summer’s World Cup or European Championship. Awards in the former are usually determined by the European club season. However, in any year, form in the club season that has passed the previous May and that in the season that has started in September are factors.

This year, no individual dominated Euro 2008. Collectively, Spain were the pick of the bunch, but no player rose head and shoulders above his team-mates. Cases can be made for David Villa, Fernando Torres, Xavi Hernandez, and Marcos Senna. However, none had particularly glorious club seasons. Villa top-scored in Switzerland and Austria, but his Valencia campaign was unrewarding.

Torres had a fine season in England, but won nothing. He had a mediocre summer tournament, though capped – and perhaps covered a multitude of mediocrity – with a typically snaffled winner in the final. Xavi, splendid in the final, was lost in a sea of Barcelona ineptitude.

Senna, admirable as he is, won nothing of note at Villarreal. He’s also disadvantaged by the fact that he is a destroyer. Had a Spaniard won a European trophy this season – think Iker Casillas, for example – then the Ballon D’Or would be theirs by right. As it is, they didn’t. This award will go elsewhere.

If so, where to? Well, going into the summer Cristiano Ronaldo looked favourite. He may still be, but in reality he’s shot his bolt. The Portuguese had an exceptional season for Manchester United, won the Premier League, and capped it all with a goal in the victorious Champions’ League final in Moscow. However, even that night the cracks were showing. Ronaldo missed his penalty kick, had a miserable European Championship, and promptly got injured after waging a PR campaign to move to Real Madrid. He’s just returned to action and his chances of capturing the headlines to copper-fasten the award look to have passed.

Instead, a little Argentinian has stolen his thunder. Manchester United knocked Barcelona out of the Champions’ League in May, but did so, to my mind, only because of the absence of one Lionel Messi. Yes, the 21-year-old played in the first-leg, but he was clearly unfit. His performances since have been consistently sensational.

This season – and this season matters in a year when no player has nailed the award by July – Messi is easily the world’s top player. Also in the credit column is the fact that he actually won a summer tournament. Messi dominated the Olympic Games football tournament in China as Argentina won gold. It may not be the Euros, but many journalists simply want an excuse to give him the award. His current form and his gold-plated success will give him the edge for many.

The beauty of Messi is that, unlike Ronaldo, he is not a triumph of style over substance. The Portuguese pretty boy is an exciting player, but he lacks the elegant subtlety and vision of the South American. Messi plays without ego. There is no affectation here. He plays as he would in a park with his friends, naturally, and with freedom. There is no posturing, pouting, or posing. What you see is what you get. Nothing is contrived. His talent, rather than his hair gel, is what is noticed. Anybody screaming at his presence is doing so because that’s what witnessing raw footballing genius can do.

Truly great players have won this award in the past. Think Di Stefano, Eusebio, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Rummenigge, Platini, van Basten, Ronaldo, and Zidane. It’s time to elect the only current player worthy of comparison.

Behind The Wall: Flaws With Claws

So Germany are through to the semi-finals and one match away from fulfilling this observer’s prediction that Joachim Loew’s men would reach the European Championship final in Vienna.

Thursday night’s 3-2 victory over Portugal was achieved in spite of the many flaws that afflict this German squad. The central defensive partnership of Per Mertesacker and Christoph Metzelder harks back to a time when Marko Rehmer and Christian Woerns were regularly embarrassed by speedy attackers.

Lukas Podolski, once again played out of position on the left side of midfield, attacks wonderfully but is woefully out of touch with the defensive duties of his new role. His inability to predict an obvious Deco pass led to the exposure of both Mertesacker and Metzelder for Portugal’s first goal.

Arne Friedrich offers little on the right, but at least proved more solid than Werder Bremen’s Clemens Fritz. How Loew can pick two players from the notoriously suspect Bremen rearguard remains a mystery.

All that said, Germany’s redoubtable team spirit and self-belief saw them through. Miroslav Klose finally got off the mark. One wonders if the sidelining of the lumbering Mario Gomez contributed to the Bayern striker’s renaissance. Podolski was clever in possession and provided a sure outlet when the pressurised German rearguard required respite. His technique is as sharp as ever as evinced by a wonderfully executed drive mid-way through the second half. There will be no way back for Gomez now.

Bastian Schweinsteiger was his typical industrious, optimistic self, always willing to attack and take on defenders who are much happier when faced by static forwards. And Michael Ballack finally put in a performance befitting his status as Germany’s leader. Philipp Lahm was once again excellent, and Simon Rolfes acquited himself well.

These performances, allied to the ineptitude of Portugal’s defence at set plays, earned Germany an impressive win. Croatia will be favourites to set up a rematch of last week’s Group B clash in the semi-finals, but it’s hard to beat the Germans once in a major tournament, let alone twice. However, they must first preoccupy themselves with dangerous, gutsy Turkey – a team that would love a shot at the Germans.

Portugal, for all their flair, were found out, Ronaldo revealed as the Pyhrric hero that he is. He’s no Figo yet. For the Germans, it’s on to the last four. In spite of themselves, their fragile defence, and limited technique, they earn a semi-final berth for the third time in four major tournaments. And this in a period widely considered to be a barren one for German football. It’ll take a good team to stop them. It nearly always does.

Brian A. O’Driscoll

Euro 2008 Diary: Days 9 & 10

Malingering musings:

1. Austria’s forwards left the rest of their squad down. While the defenders and midfielders acquitted themselves well, the Austrian attack could have a case for false advertising brought against it by the football fans of Europe. Still, the co-hosts were far from disgraced and gave their all in Group B.

2. Germany continue to limp on. Never in any real danger against their neighbours, Joachim Loew’s men are underdogs for Thursday’s quarter-final with Portugal. The German full-backs are vulnerable, perfect fodder for Simao and Cristiano Ronaldo. So you would think…

3. Michael Ballack’s excellent free-kick doesn’t mask his anaemic performances in this tournament. Germany remain bereft of leadership. Philipp Lahm has been their outstanding player – but he’s not the greatest defender…

4. Poland flop again. Leo Beenhakker can’t be blamed. He got the most out of a severely limited squad. It’s the lack of talent combined with an obvious inferiority complex that haunts this Polish generation. Without the superb Artur Boruc, it would have been a debacle.

5. Croatia power on and look serious contenders for the title. Their match with Turkey is going to be explosive.

6. Italy deserve qualification from Group B and remain my tip for ultimate glory in Vienna. They’ve done the hard part. Now, watch them psych out the Spanish.

7. France are a shambles. Domenech will get the bullet and a clear out of the great generation that helped bring World and European titles to the country is inevitable. Thierry Henry should not be spared. His pathetic attempt at getting out of the way of Daniele De Rossi’s free-kick sums up the sunshine boy attitude of the primadonna that he has undoubtedly become. Karim Benzema was mature beyond his years and showed Henry up for the preening mercenary that he now is.

8. Romania were finally undone by their own lack of ambition. Losing to the Dutch reserves was a poor way to go after doing so much of the donkey work and in such impressive fashion against France and Italy. Looks like Adrian Mutu’s penalty miss was decisive after all.

9. Holland, like Croatia, roll on. They’ve both got momentum. Like the Croats, they’ve also got a relatively handy quarter-final. Russia or Sweden should not be the obstacle that they fail to negotiate.

10. Portugal and Spain must now prove their credentials against Europe’s tournament masters, Germany and Italy. Whoever wins those games must be taken seriously. I’m still backing the tried and trusted against opposition that must start favourites in each game.

Games of the Tournament

Despite the excitement in Switzerland and Austria, I don’t yet feel that this tournament has quite hit the heights of the 2000 event in Belgium and the Netherlands.

That said, it’s a far better tournament than any of those played in 1980, 1988, 1992, and 1996. It has also surpassed the last event in Portugal.

The standard however has been set by the European Championships of 1976, 1984, and 2000. The 1976 finals in Yugoslavia were contested by four sides, so it’s perhaps unfair to use that miniature competition as a yardstick. However, all four games were classics.

Euro ‘84 in France was fantastic, with at least six games worthy of classic status. Both semi-finals, France’s games with Belgium and Yugoslavia, Spain’s defeat of West Germany, and Denmark’s classic comeback against Belgium all merit that accolade. Six classic games in a tournament of 15 matches.

Euro 2000 had the brilliant France-Italy final, two excellent and dramatic semi-finals, the France-Spain quarter-final, Spain’s amazing 4-3 win over Yugoslavia, the 3-3 draw between Yugoslavia and Slovenia, and England’s thrilling defeats by Portugal and Romania. I make that eight classic games in a tournament of 31 matches. Spot the trend, yet? The more matches we have, the more diluted the football.

Last time out in Portugal, the hosts’ matches with Holland, England, and Spain were all sparkling occasions. England’s collapse against the French was also a highlight (only in the manner of Zidane’s performance, of course), and the Holland-Czech Republic group game was the coruscating delight. The Germany-Holland clash was memorable too. I make that six outstanding games.

This time around, the group stages have already given us Holland-Italy, Holland, France, Romania-Italy, Switzerland-Turkey, Turkey-Czech Republic, Croatia-Germany, Portugal-Czech Republic, and Germany-Poland. At least four of those games merit classic status, and you could certainly argue that the others were hugely entertaining group stage matches.

Given that the group stages have yet to complete, and that the knockout matches typically provide at least two bona-fide classics, this has been a better tournament than that four years ago and looks set to challenge 84 and 2000 for the right to be regarded as one of the best ever.

Euro 2008 Diary: Days 6, 7, & 8

Random thoughts from the weekend’s dramatics:

1. Holland were magnificent against France, showcasing their brand of exhilirating  counter-attacking football against the World Cup finalists for the second time in four days. They take defensive chances at times, but they’ve got a goalkeeper bang in form – something every European champion team needs.

2. Arjen Robben’s sabre-like goal dispelled any notions that some of us had about Holland’s stomach for a fight. It was magnificent – the best of the tournament to date (well, along with about four other Dutch goals) – because it came when most needed. The question now is, what would happen the Dutch if they went behind?

3. Clarence Seedorf hasn’t been missed on or off the pitch. This Dutch squad looks the most harmonious in years. Seedorf was present at each tournament since 1996…

4. Marco van Basten looks to have complete control over his squad. His reputation and status have never looked better. His decision to introduce Robben at half-time shows that he realises where his squad’s strengths – and limitations – lie.

5. Raymond Domenech is a dead man walking. His decision to drop Karim Benzema was rash and unfair. Thierry Henry did get a goal, but he’s the past – and comes with too much egotistical baggage. Just as Lilian Thuram, a formerly wonderful player, and Claude Makelele, as snidely nasty as ever, are and do.

6. Romania were superb against the Italians and look a good bet to qualify from the group now. That game was one of the best of what is turning into an unpredictable and hugely absorbing competition. Better than 2004? Probably. Up there with 2000? Not just yet.

7. Bogdan Lobont has been in the kind of form that made him one of Europe’s most promising goalkeepers at Ajax. His bravery and agility earned his side a well-deserved point on Friday. Gianluigi Buffon made a wondrous save from Adrian Mutu’s penalty to preserve the Italians’ chances. Italy will be hard done by if they beat France and still go out.

8. Alessandro Del Piero – not quite the great player some will have you believe. This tournament has copper-fastened his status as nothing more than a cult hero who failed to hit the true heights when it really mattered. His epitaph will surely be Rotterdam in 2000.

9. Spain just about passed their Swedish test on Saturday, but still look a triumph of style over substance. Greece’s elimination proves 2004 to be the fluke some of us always thought it was. No shame in that, for Rehhagel’s achievement is still the greatest of any coach in the modern era.

10. Turkey are the undoubtedly greatest fighters in the tournament – and they are technically adept to boot. Arda and Nihat have been superb, and Servet continues to play in a fashion not seen since Bulgaria’s heyday in the 1994 World Cup. They’ll give Croatia one hell of a game.

Behind The Wall: Grim Reality Breaks Through the Cracks

Reality bites. For the first time in over two years, the fundamental flaws in the German nationalmannaschaft have been brutally exposed. For all the hype about Germany’s attacking style and Jürgen Klinsmann’s revolution (a euphemism for the importation of American psychobabble in place of tactical and technical substance), this morning finds the harsh light of reality breaking through the cracks and shining brightly on the naked deficiencies of Joachim Löw and his squad.

This observer has long scoffed at notions perpetrated by those easily taken in by the charisma and personality of the new Bayern Munich coach that Germany had somehow found a new glittering generation and style of play that would return the nationalmannschaft to the top table of world football.

Klinsmann gambled that as his defence was so poor the only option was to exploit the youthful endeavour of his inexperienced players and ruthlessly attack the opposition. That worked well enough against Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Sweden in the World Cup. It worked less well against Poland, and didn’t really work at all against Argentina or Italy – the only genuinely good sides the Germans met in the 2006 tournament.

Löw, credited as the brains behind Klinsmann’s vacuous but charismatic project, has obviously continued in the same tactical vein – except that he now believes his own publicity.

As Bundestrainer, the Swabian has a profile to maintain. He loves his wraparound scarves and Grecian 2000 dyes. Perhaps he thinks a little of King Otto’s Hellenic magic will rub off? On Thursday, he lost the run of himself.

Marcell Jansen was played at left back instead of Philipp Lahm – the real deal in that position at least in an attacking sense. Torsten Frings and Michael Ballack were given the run around by Croatia’s technical midfield. Frings, a fine dogger in the middle of the park, had his limitations exposed. It’s why he failed to truly make the grade at Bayern Munich. He’s an honest grafter, but he’s no Paul Breitner or Lothar Matthäus – and these players are the ones by which all German midfielders need to be measured.

Ballack, the team’s leader, was anonymous. He appeared only to harry and heckle the referee, something Matthäüs made into an art form. However, the 1990 World Cup-winning captain also contributed on the field of play. The Chelsea man failed spectacularly to provide leadership by expample. It’s hard to see how he can expect to feature in 2010 World Cup plans on this evidence. At 31, it looks like his time is up.

The fragile central defensive partnership of Christoph Metzelder – who barely kicked a ball for Real Madrid last season – and the lumbering Per Mertesacker (a member of Werder Bremen’s back line – enough said, surely) just doesn’t work. How Löw things another Bremen player Clemens Fritz is an international defender remains a mystery to this observer.

Up front, Miroslav Klose is woefully out of form and needs to be rested. He barely registered for Bayern last season – quite a task given their supreme domestic dominance – and Mario Gomez looks as limited at international level as he did in Stuttgart’s embarrassing Champions League campaign. Gomez is a trier, but he has not found his feet at this level yet.

Lukas Podolski is wasted on the left of midfield – the position Bastian Schweinsteiger should surely have started in. Then again, just as the appallingly coiffured midfielder was playing himself back into the starting line-up, he lost his head and was sent off.

Germany face Austria and need only a point from Monday’s meeting in Vienna to progress to a quarter-final with Portugal. Unless Löw gets his tactics – and selection – right, the palpable limitations of this generation of German players will once again face lamentable exposure on the big stage. Austria won’t be good enough to do it, but Portugal certainly have the capacity. Time for some substance over style.

Brian A. O’Driscoll, Berlin.