FIFA World Cup 2010: Anglo-German Connection has been made in World Cup as Two European Powerhouses Gear up to Face Each Other
England and Germany would be facing each other in the round of 16, in what could be one of the best matches of this World Cup, nothing less than a classic World Cup contest between two European powerhouses. Both faced some hurdles in their journey towards knock out stage. England and Germany are hoping to overcome their early disappointments, when they face each other.
England finally put John Terry’s mutiny fiasco behind, to grind a win in their final group match against Slovenia in Port Elizabeth. England, who drew their early games against United States and Algeria were under heavy pressure from British media, as the latter criticised English team of lacking flair and skill. Nothing less than a victory was required in their match against Slovakia, to ensure their progress to next round. They finally found that in the form of Defoe’s first half goal.
England’s World Cup campaign was marred by different controversies since its inception. First, it was Green’s incredible error in the first match. Then to add more pressure on the English camp, it was hit by another controversy. John Terry, who is equally famous for his off the field antics, commented in media regarding his conflict with Coach Fabio Capello. He criticised Italian’s tactics and strategy in early two matches. Moreover, with the French revolt still in mind, similar parallels were made, despite Terry’s Chelsea’s team mate Frank Lampard’s clearance on the issue; it was a fodder for English tabloids. Talking to reporters, Lampard said, “I have not read the reports but from what I hear, I think it has been completely over-done in terms if crises meeting and things like that. The Algeria game had to be addressed and it was not nice viewing.”
After the Slovenian victory, England Coach Fabio Capello believes that the great gulf between England’s polished display in qualifying and their lacklustre performance in earlier two World Cup matches have somewhat diminished. He is optimistic that in pre-quarter-final match against arch rivals Germany will bring best in England.
On the other hand, Germany is hoping that their young side will prove their mettle, when they face biggest challenge of the World Cup so far in the form of England. Germany will now have services of their prolific striker Klose, who missed Germany’s last group match. Klose was sent off in their 1-0 loss to Serbia. Germany started the World Cup with the boom as they destroyed Australia in the opening match with the score of 4-0. However, they crashed to the ground in next match which they lost to Serbia and also lost their ace striker Klose. They finally got their campaign back, as they beat Ghana with a solid performance at the Soccer City in Johannesburg. It took Oliz’s wondrous strike to dent Ghana’s solid defence in the second half. The replacement of Klose was Cacau, who had a fruitful appearance for Germany in the warm up matches and even scored after coming out of the bench against Australia but had a frustrating night in Johannesburg as he failed to break the African defence. German coach is hopeful that experience from the group matches will help his young team in overcoming the highly experienced English side. Talking to the media, German Coach Loew said, “Despite the victory there were many things from the Ghana match which need to be addressed and we have drawn lessons from that. There is no hint of resignation.”
It will be interesting to see which of the two European giants in form of Germany and England remain in the World Cup. Germany has won the World Cup three times and were finalist in 2002 World Cup and semi-finalist in 2006 World Cup. They cannot be underestimated. On the other hand, English have been hyped as pre tournament favourites but they need to raise their game, if they want to prove their worth on the world stage. Nevertheless, one thing is certain; it would provide a great entertainment for football fans all over the World.
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