In the first matchup of teams that have already played, Germany tries to keep its lead in Group A with a match against Poland. Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 in its opener and Poland lost to Ecuador 2-0. If Poland loses, they're pretty much done. If Poland ties, they're just mostly done.
Poland tends not to fare well against Germany in soccer, to say the least. In 14 matches against their neighbors to the east, Germany has 10 wins and four draws.
Germany's Miroslav Klose was born in Poland as was Lukas Podolski.
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit
Für das deutsche Vaterland!
Danach laßt uns alle streben
Brüderlich mit Herz und Hand!
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit
Sind des Glückes Unterpfand;
|: Blüh' im Glanze dieses Glückes,
Blühe, deutsches Vaterland. :|
Oh, and the fat kid in the Adidas commercial had the way better team, until Jose pulled Beckenbauer out of nowhere. The equivalent of the ringer showing up when you were a kid, and the other team was picking in kickball.
12
In 1982, Germany and Austria were in the same group. Germany had lost its opener to Algeria and needed a low-scoring game against Austria to advance.
The Austrians obliged and "Anschluss '82" was born. Algeria was quite ticked off.
To prevent such shenanigans, the final matches in each group are played simulatenously now.
Boy, nothing like 60,000 Germans singing that tune to send a chill up your spine. The words may change, but the "Song Remains the Same." Get it...Zeppelin, Germany, Song remains the...oh, nevermind...too many connections.
My brother is staying in Köln (aka Cologne). I don't know if he's covering a match today or being forced to write down all of Bruce Arena's complaints about how bad the USA players are.
Yeah, the US was awful, but not as bad as Ukraine today. I find their style really hard to watch, so my heart is there, but I have a lot more fun rooting for Germany.
I ordered a Croatia home jersey last night. It really looks like a tablecloth. Someone told me not to wear it to a picnic as people will want to put condiments on me.
Nice. A friend of mine has one. The checkerboard isn't as visually, um, disturbing (?) in person.
I've been waiting for ESPN to do a commercial where a couple of anchors are looking at the WC lineup and commenting on how Ukraine is weak, then Shevchenko is in the elevator with them and screams "Ukraine is strong!" and slaps the paper out of their hands.
How bout that Germany uniform the kid is wearing in that adidas commercial? It's sort of a checkered diamond. I think it's from '94.
I can't believe Klinsmann still has Lehmann out there. After his no-charge decisions last match which resulted in two goals I figured he'd be gone by now.
39 I don't believe so, I think he just got left off the squad. Here's something from wikipedia:
"On May 30, 2006, during the friendly match between the national teams of Poland and Colombia, the crowd in the stadium started to chant the name of Dudek, as a way to express the desire of having the goalkeeper in the 2006 World Cup Squad, mainly because of the mistake made by Tomasz Kuszczak, allowing the colombian keeper Luis Enrique "Neco" Martínez to score a goal from a long punt."
64 Would work best if Italy played Tunisia, though. Nobody could play the deep ball like Hannibal, but Scipio Africanus learned a thing or two from their first meeting, seems like.
Or much of anything else, either.
Für das deutsche Vaterland!
Danach laßt uns alle streben
Brüderlich mit Herz und Hand!
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit
Sind des Glückes Unterpfand;
|: Blüh' im Glanze dieses Glückes,
Blühe, deutsches Vaterland. :|
6 I'd probably go with Spielraum over Lebensraum, but look for them to try to cross it for Ballack.
I'll set the lines at:
MIL/CIN +175
GER/POL -200
1. Poland is not yet lost
while we live
We will fight (with swords) for all/
That our enemies had taken from us.
Refrain:
March, march Dabrowski
. from Italy to Poland
Under your command
we will reunite with the nation.
2. We will cross the Vistula and Warta Rivers,/
we will be Poles,/ Bonaparte showed us/ how to win.
Refrain: March, march...
3. Like Czarniecki to Poznan, after Swedish annexation,
We will come back across the sea to save our motherland
Refrain: March, march...
4. Father, in tears, says to his Basia: "Just listen,
It seems that our people are beating the drums."
Refrain: March, march...
That's just a cool name to say.
In 1982, Germany and Austria were in the same group. Germany had lost its opener to Algeria and needed a low-scoring game against Austria to advance.
The Austrians obliged and "Anschluss '82" was born. Algeria was quite ticked off.
To prevent such shenanigans, the final matches in each group are played simulatenously now.
16 Ever heard the song in its entirety? Chilling.
I've been waiting for ESPN to do a commercial where a couple of anchors are looking at the WC lineup and commenting on how Ukraine is weak, then Shevchenko is in the elevator with them and screams "Ukraine is strong!" and slaps the paper out of their hands.
Dortmund's sprawling expanses and traffic density bear comparison with Los Angeles.
Except Dortmund has 1/5 of the people of Los Angeles.
The only thing the cities have in common is that pedestrians will always wait for the light to change before crossing the street.
Angelenos do this out of self-preservation and a desire not to get killed.
Dortmunders do it just because they're supposed to.
Son: Because they have Mickey Mantle.
Dad: No. Because the pinstripes distract the other team.
Son: Wouldn't a red checker pattern work even better?
I can't believe Klinsmann still has Lehmann out there. After his no-charge decisions last match which resulted in two goals I figured he'd be gone by now.
"On May 30, 2006, during the friendly match between the national teams of Poland and Colombia, the crowd in the stadium started to chant the name of Dudek, as a way to express the desire of having the goalkeeper in the 2006 World Cup Squad, mainly because of the mistake made by Tomasz Kuszczak, allowing the colombian keeper Luis Enrique "Neco" Martínez to score a goal from a long punt."
I linked a video of that a while back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJfW3hrzAz8
At least this matchup has a backstory.
Yet, my coworkers think that is more interesting that the World Cup.
No... But they will be if Ecuador gets a tie against Costa Rica.
But if Costa Rica wins (I'll assume 1-0), you would have:
Germany 6 +3 goals
Ecuador 3 +1
Costa Rica 3 -1
Poland 0 -3
That would require Poland to put a hurting on Costa Rica in its last match and then Germany would have to beat Ecuador, preferably by a lot.
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