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Germans go home with heads high
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) -- The Germans saved their best for the last. It wasn't enough as Brazil won 2-0 in Sunday's World Cup final, but it allowed Germany to go home with heads high, most of its proud history and reputation restored. It can now look ahead to staging the World Cup at home in four years and making another run for the title. Few people had expected Germany to reach the 2002 final, with many skeptics at home predicting it wouldn't even get through the group stage. When Germany did, coach Rudi Voeller's men were cut down for dull play. In the final, Germany couldn't match the flashes of brilliance produced by the magic "Three Rs" with Ronaldo scoring both goals and Rivaldo and Ronaldinho giving plenty of assistance. "It's no disgrace to lose against Brazil, but it's always bitter to lose a final," Voeller said. "For us, it was already a great success to reach the final." Voeller had said before the match that Brazil's greatest strength was the vast individual talent of its players and that Germany wouldn't be able to contain Brazil the entire match. It proved to be true in the first meeting in the World Cup for soccer's two most successful sides. The German coach also stayed true to his promise that Germany would try to create chances, because relying solely on defense would be suicidal against Brazil. Despite playing their best match of the tournament, the Germans couldn't score for the first time in the tournament. And their top player, goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, made his only mistake of the tournament. But it was costly, giving Brazil the go-ahead goal. Combined with Ronaldo's class and opportunism, it sank the three-time champions who could have matched Brazil's record of four titles. Instead, Brazil increased its record to five -- two more than anyone else. Kahn, who earlier in the day was voted the best goalkeeper of the tournament by FIFA, was inconsolable after the match, but said the team's performance in the tournament and especially in the final had signaled its revival. "German soccer has found its place again. We have brought German soccer to the top again and that was important," the German captain said. "Looking into the future tonight is difficult, but the good memories of this tournament cannot be destroyed by one mistake." Kahn fumbled a shot by Rivaldo and Ronaldo pounced on the ball to score the first goal after 67 minutes. "Of course it's bitter when you make a mistake in the final, I think it was the only mistake in the tournament -- it's 10 times as bitter," Kahn said. "I had to hold that ball. There is no consolation, but life has to go on." Voeller offered only praise for Kahn. "There's no criticism on our side," Voeller said. "Oliver played a dream World Cup, he stopped amazing shots. The mistake he made was minor." Germany was vilified after it went out of Euro 2000 without winning game as defending champion. It had a rough qualifying campaign, losing 5-1 to England at home and had to beat Ukraine in a playoff just to reach the tournament. The team was hit by injuries before the tournament, losing starting defenders Jens Nowotny and Christian Woerns and midfielders Sebastian Deisler and Mehmet Scholl. Yet, Germany conceded only one goal in six games before the final. In the final, it also didn't have suspended midfielder Michael Ballack, whose goals gave Germany 1-0 wins over the United States in the quarterfinals and South Korea in the semifinals. Germany also will be remembered for the biggest victory of the tournament, a 8-0 rout of Saudi Arabia in its opening match. Miroslav Klose, with five goals in the first three matches, made a name for himself. But he was held scoreless in the knockout stage and couldn't produce against Brazil. Germany had its chances, with Oliver Neuville hitting the post and Brazilian goalkeeper Marcos making a late save to foil Oliver Bierhoff. "What we showed tonight was better than just good," Voeller said. Midfielder Bernd Schneider, one of Germany's best men in the final, had a simple explanation for the loss. "Because the played too well and we didn't notch a goal. Maybe we were missing a little bit of luck or we would have scored a goal." "We had enough chances. One ball even hit the post, and several just went wide. As of tomorrow, we only have one goal in Germany: the World Cup 2006," said defender Christoph Metzelder, the youngest German player at 21 and another revelation of the tournament. He will at the center of the new team as Germany starts to rebuild for 2006. (ns/scw) |
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