England vs. Germany - some blub thoughts

We know that Gary Lineker hasn't always been right but let's hope his famous quote will be true tomorrow: "Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win".

The whole football world will be watching tomorrow when the old rivals lock horns and the world cup finally really starts. Beckenbauer had it right when he said that it's unfortunate that these teams play each other so early in the tournament - a constellation worthy of a semi final.

After Germany's win over Ghana I was not really happy because it was a crappy game. I am sure that I won't care about the game quality on Sunday as long as the Germans win.

It's interesting to see how the British media always uses war vocabulary when it comes to playing Germany. There was a really good interview with former football pro John Barnes in today's "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" (German newspaper). He states that when he came to London (he was born in Jamaica) he learned that you were not allowed to like the Germans because they bombed the fish'n'chips restaurants. While this might not be an appropriate description of a serious matter it does show that maybe this is not a good reason to hate the Germans anymore. English readers might be disappointed when they hear that our arch rival is actually Holland - England is only second on the list.

Barnes said another remarkable thing: when asked why the media always has such high expectations and sees England as one of the favorites to win the cup he says that patriotism is the enemy of perspective. How true.

So who will win the game tomorrow? Statistically Lineker was not right. England beat Germany more often than vice versa. I've heard lots of people say that the German team is too young and inexperienced. I did the math (and made some assumptions regarding the line-up): the German team is almost 4 years younger on average. So that part is true. But they only lack the experience of 77 international games (499 vs. 576). This number cuts in half if you cancel the goalie out of the equation. And I really do not think that Neuer is worse than James. The most stunning statistic is the number of goals with Germany's players leading 117 to 83.

I guess the chances are 50:50. But let's be honest: whoever wins will most likely not go all the way and win the cup.