World Cup Soccer 2010: Philipp Lahm does not want to give up German captaincy
For the first time in South Africa 2010, Germany looked jaded as they faced Spain in the semi-final of World Cup 2010. Germany lacked the sting in their attack as Spain dominated the match and came out victorious in the end. Germany came into the match desiring to make it to the final. However, they missed Thomas Mueller in the match who was suspended in the quarter-final game. Germany’s harmonic World Cup campaign was disturbed when skipper Philipp Lahm claimed that he had no intention of leaving the captaincy after the World Cup. This means that Bayern Munich full back Lahm would not be giving up the captaincy armband to Michael Ballack when he returns to full fitness.
Lahm comments regarding his desire to retain the captaincy was revealed in his interview with German newspaper Bild. His interview was published on Tuesday which rolled into a media frenzy regarding the dissent in the German camp. Talking to Bild, Lahm said, “It is obvious that I would like to keep the captain’s armband. The job gives me a great deal of enjoyment. Why should I then give it up by choice? If you do the job out there on the pitch and you have it under control, as in my case, you want more. You want more responsibility”.
However, team manager Oliver Bierhoff insisted that German camp was in perfect harmony and there was no conflict within the ranks. Bierhoff had to answer a volley of questions about the issue and after the departure of Ballack from the team camp, the entire controversy was further fuelled by the media. This controversy broke out just over an hour before the German team were due to fly to Durban to play their semi-final against Spain. And their performance in the semi-final apparently shows that the controversy took a toll on the German players.
Lahm was made captain in place of Ballack, who was ruled out of the World Cup after sustaining an injury just before the start of the mega event. Ballack, who moved from Chelsea to his former club Bayer Leverkusen, sustained an ankle injury during Chelsea’s victory over Portsmouth in the FA Cup final. Ballack flew out to be with the team ahead of the last-eight match against Spain but returned to Europe which further fuelled rumours that he may have been offended by Lahm. Commenting about Ballack departure, Bierhoff said, “It is not the case. Ballack visited the team in Sicily before the tournament and it was always agreed that he would visit for the quarter-final. It is an unfortunate coincidence that Ballack’s departure and Lahm’s statement coincident.” According to Bierhoff, Ballack returned because he needed some treatment on his ankle. Ballack said, “He felt good and has excellent physiotherapy, luckily his injury is healing surprisingly fast. He needs a lot of rehab now; he needs special facilities and a lot of time”. Former AC Milan and German striker Bierhoff believes that Ballack would have returned to South Africa if Germany had progressed to the final.
Germany faced European Champion Spain in the semi-final. Young German side was hoping to avenge their defeat by the hands of Spaniards in the 2008 Euro Championship final. Germany came to the match with big results under their belt. They outclassed the likes of England and Argentina in their path to semi-final. They were so far the most prolific side as they scored 13 goals and conceded only 2. The German team consist of young talent which proved instrumental in their success. The players such as Mueller and Oliz have remained the main guiding force for the Germans in the tournament. Klose had some personal achievements in front of him as well as he was only one goal shy off Ronaldo’s record of most goals in World Cup.
But the Germans lacked the flair as the Spaniards dominated the possession of the ball. The Spaniards finally got the reward when Carlos Puyol was left unmarked in the box. Fully capitalizing on his position, he scored a perfect header from the corner. A one goal deficit looked mountainous for Klose who scored 13 goals before coming into this match. The Spaniards held their lead to progress to their first final in the World Cup, leaving Germany to crib about their captaincy issues.
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