Germany recaptures winning mentality

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SOGWIPO, South Korea (Reuters) -- Germany's hard-fought 1-0 victory over Paraguay on Saturday may not have been pretty to watch but suggested they had recaptured the winning mentality that once made them an awe-inspiring force.

After starting the tournament by scoring freely with a record-breaking 8-0 demolition of Saudi Arabia, the triple world champions battled their way through like in the good old days.

Striker Oliver Neuville's winner two minutes from time for a spot in the quarterfinals followed a brave 2-0 win with 10 men over Cameroon in their decisive first-round match and left them feeling that the glory days could soon return.

"The most decisive thing is the mentality, the belief we can stay in the tournament and advance," said skipper Oliver Kahn, who turned 33 on Saturday but had to wait until the game's closing stages to get his present.

"Everything can happen now,' added the goalkeeper, dreaming aloud that Germany's revival could take them all the way to a fourth title.

"It's thoroughly possible we can go all the way," he said.

Germany looked dull and short of ideas for most of the game and rarely came close to scoring against an unspectacular but compact Paraguay side until Neuville latched onto a low Bernd Schneider cross to beat flamboyant goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert with a merciless half-volley from close range.

"We didn't play well in the first half," admitted coach Rudi Voeller, who lifted the Cup as a striker in 1990. "In fact we hardly played at all."

Things improved slightly when defensive player Sebastian Kehl came on after the break and tried his best to show his sluggish team the way forward.

Using the wings and relying on crosses, Germany finally managed to put opponents they had never met before under some sort of pressure.

Deserved victory

With extra time looming, Paraguay tired and moved back, maybe hoping for a shootout that the talismanic Chilavert might win for them.

"I think it was a deserved victory," said Voeller, whose team will now meet either Mexico or the United States for a place in the semi-finals.

After a shaky run in qualifying featuring a traumatic 5-1 defeat to England in Munich and a string of injury blows in the build-up to the finals, Germany entered the tournament with lower expectations than usual, Voeller naming the knockout stages as their minimal aim.

With no really outstanding player aside from classy midfielder Michael Ballack, currently chasing his best form, and no true leader, they looked far less glamorous on paper than many other teams.

But while sides blessed with more talent, like Argentina, France and Portugal, are already home, Germany, who once had a solid reputation for winning ugly, are still around and hungry for more.

After disappearing from the last two World Cups in the quarter-finals and making a shock early exit from Euro 2000, they could soon be restoring their wounded pride in a tournament of upsets with no respect for educated predictions.

 

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