Germany Celebrates Win, But Concerns Persist Over Defense
June 10, 2006
"Dream goals!" screamed Germany's best-selling daily Bild on Saturday's front page below a picture of players celebrating Philipp Lahm's stunning first goal in the opening match against Costa Rica in Munich. "But our defense is a nightmare," the headline added.
"Hey, it works!" Berlin's Tageszeitung said.
Germany's 4-2 victory over Costa Rica has relieved fans and the media alike who have been agonizing for months over the whether the team, coached by Jürgen Klinsmann, has what it takes to repeat their last World Cup performance when they lost to Brazil in the finals.
Captain Michael Ballack's absence in the curtain raiser due to a calf injury only added to the jitters.
Wobbly defense raises concerns
"A successful start with blemishes," is how daily Die Welt described Germany's performance while the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said it was a "reasonable start with more questions than answers."
The German team's defense, long considered their biggest weakness, gave renewed cause for concern with the defensive quartet twice caught out trying to play offside and Costa Rican striker Paul Wanchope taking advantage each time to score two goals.
German soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer expressed concern Friday that the German defense could be the hosts' Achilles heel in their pursuit of a third World Cup title.
"The two goals came from little slip-ups: we have been trying for several months to stiffen up the defense but it isn't really working," Beckenbauer said.
"The defense went to sleep twice today (Friday), but all is well when we can go forward and score more goals than the opposition. I did think on both occasions that they were offside but on seeing them again it was touch and go."
Fans happy, scuffles in Frankfurt
Germany's fans however seemed less concerned about their team's nagging problems as thousands drove through several German cities with blaring horns and waving the German flag. The situation remained largely peaceful.
"Everything was fine. There were no untoward incidents," a police spokesman told public broadcaster ARD. More than 300,000 fans poured into the German capital yesterday to watch the game on giant screens in downtown Berlin.
However in Frankfurt, where England plays Paraguay in their first World Cup game on Saturday, German police said they arrested 20 mainly English and German football fans arrested late on Friday after scuffles.
Police in riot gear moved in to prevent further violence near the city's main rail station where thousands of England fans had gathered in pubs and bars, a police spokesman said.
There are an estimated 30,000 England fans in the western city, and only around 15,000 have tickets for the match against Paraguay which kicks off at 1300 GMT.