Euro 2008 Day 6: Watching from a distance

It seems that the aweful weather took a turn up north and ended up in Cologne because it was pouring all day today. If you have to rely on your bike to go somewhere that can be hard at times. So I was soaking wet when I arrived at work today.
The big news came from England and one could get the impression that they wanted to remind the rest of Europe they are still there. Portugal coach Luis Felipe Scolari will be the new manager at Stanford Bridge next season which means that Chelsea FC will have another top level coach again. This is interesting because I don't think that the timing was so great. I wonder how his Portugese team will react to the news since I cannot remember anything about him cancelling his contract with the Portugese FA. For Chelsea it's as good as it gets. They have a new coach who is considered to be one of the best in the business and if you saw the Portugese victory over the Czech Republic you know why. Maybe Chelase will change their style of play in the next season and move from "score-one-and-defend" to a more spectacular football which certainly would suit some of their players better.

Germany vs Croatia 1-2 (Group B)
This was a funny one since I didn't get to see anything. Well, hardly anything. I had to work until 8 pm and the game started at 6 pm, so I head to rely on the radio coverage which was only broadcasting tiny bits and pieces every few minutes. There was, however, a television set outside the restaurant across the street which gave at least some idea of what was going on in Klagenfurt. When the game started some kids were lined up around it, one of them swining a German flag. So the funny thing was that I was only to spot in which direction the game was heading. I could see the penalty boxes and the middle line, but that was it. no ball, no players, the damn thing was simply too small. But I was able to hear the reaction of the guests which ranged from "oooh", "aaah", "nooo", "damn", and so on, with little screams of high pitch voices which belonged to the children outside. Now I seldomly have the chance to observe German fans in full effect since I decided to watch German games at home instead of a bar or some public place. The main reason being that I am simply annyoed by the idiots who show up to watch the match. And when the break arrived you were able to spot all cliché guys in the crowd. Horrible. Which was why I somehow found myself grinning because Croatia were up 1-0 at half time. There's people in jerseys, people with flags on their faces, people carrying flags and so on. But I never really get the impression the people bring all that stuff because they like the team, but instead they want to show off their nationality. And that's the part I hate. I guess I am slightly oversensitive, but I just cannot stand hordes of Germans running around in their national colours.
I have no idea if the game really was that horrible as the radio commentary described it, but I am really looking forward to the final match against Austria. That should be a nice showdown.

Austria vs Poland 1-1 (Group B)
I was already writing about this match while they were still playing in Vienna and it all looked like Austria were packing their stuff as well. It really looked like both host nations were out of the competition after the group stages. Poland had scored an offside goal in the middle of the first half and Austria didn't look like they were able to respond at all. But then they were awarded a penalty in the 92nd minute and Ivica Vastic scored the equalizer. Austria had enormous chances in the first 30 minutes, three times there were Austrian players running at the Polish goal with noone in their way to stop them. Each time they failed miserably. This leaves them with all chances to advance to the next round. Now if - and those are a lot of "if's", but anyway - Austria win against Germany and Croatia beat Poland in the final games, Austria are through. This would mean that Germany has suffered another "Cordoba". Cordoba - in Argentina, mind you - was the scene of a historic defeat the German team suffered against their natural rivals down south. Going into the 1978 World Cup the faces Austria in the second round and went down 2-3, the final goal by Austrian striker Hans Krankl being shown on TV over and over again since. The German media right from the start of the tournament reminded viewers and readers of this and now they have it. There's a chance for another "Cordoba". The last matchday is looking to be very interesting.

Germany vs Austria 2-3 (1978 World Cup, Cordoba, Argentina)