Portugal 2 Germany 3
So it's not just penalties, then, that the Germans do better
than the English. They also know how to beat Luiz Felipe Scolari in
a quarter-final. It was a victory that was rich in irony, not least
for Michael Ballack and his new Chelsea manager, but the Germans
nevertheless succeeded where England too often have failed.
Scolari will forever claim that he was cheated out of a fourth
consecutive semi-final and he will point, somewhat predictably, to
the player who is now under his control. What a fascinating first
meeting that will be next month when Germany's captain reports to
the big Brazilian for duty.
A touch embarrassing for both, one would think.
If Ballack does say sorry for the manner in which he scored what
proved a decisive third goal for the Germans, he need not offer an
apology for anything else he did here last night.
Even if the respect was grudging, he must have impressed Scolari
as much as other Chelsea players did not. Three members of the
Chelsea squad started in Portugal's defence and two of them carry
much of the responsibility for Germany's goal.
Bosingwa and Ferreira were at fault for Germany's first,
Bosingwa was to blame for the second. Ferreira should take the rap
for No 3 even if he was pushed in the back by his Stamford Bridge
colleague.
It had as much to do with his poor positioning as it did
Ballack's flagrant opportunism. Sympathy should nevertheless be
extended to Scolari after what has been a brilliant career in
international management. The tournament might have turned into
something of a nightmare since he was confirmed as Chelsea's new
manager but attempts to blame the timing of the announcement on the
two subsequent defeats seemed unfair here at St Jakob Park.
Scolari dismissed such talk with a shake of the head, insisting
it had more to do with Ballack and the failure of certain Portugal
players to follow his instructions. Their first goal, after 22
minutes, was a perfect demonstration of their superior effort and
desire as well as a beauty of a move. After two delightful one-twos
with Philipp Lahm and Ballack, Lukas Podolski left Bosingwa
trailing with a terrific burst of pace before delivering a
perfectly-weighted cross.
The excellent Bastian Schweinsteiger, who in turn had left
Ferreira in his wake with a timely run off the right flank,
finished with ease. The second goal arrived just four minutes later
and it was something Scolari clearly feared might happen.
A goal from a set-piece from those big German brutes. On this
occasion Schweinsteiger delivered the free-kick and Miroslav Klose
jumped between Bosingwa and Ronaldo to extend Germany's lead.
While Loew celebrated in the stand, Scolari remained motionless
on the bench. But it turned out that, while the body was still, the
brain was working overtime. Within five minutes Scolari had come up
with a plan.
Off came Joao Moutinho. On went Raul Meireles. And 10 minutes
later a goal for Portugal. Rather like Germany's opener, it was
delightful in its execution. Not least in the way Ronaldo dropped
off Per Mertesacker to receive the pass from Simao and race towards
goal. His shot was saved, onehanded by Jens Lehmann, but there was
little either Lehmann or Christoph Metzelder could do to prevent
Nuno Gomes from reducing the deficit.
Now Scolari was excited again. Now he was punching the air. But
if the momentum appeared to be with Portugal either side of the
interval, the advantage very much returned to Germany in the 61st
minute. Another free-kick came in from Schweinsteiger, with Ballack
this time the scorer.
Scolari responded by performing a pushing action to the referee
and then urged his team to push forward, and when a second goal
came in the 87th minute extra time suddenly seemed possible. A
wonderful cross from Nani was converted with a header from Helder
Postiga and Portugal were back in the game.
At least they thought they were. Germany were vulnerable at the
back against Croatia — the side they will probably face next — and
they were vulnerable again. But they did enough to hold on, having
already done more than enough to secure an unexpected victory.
Time for Roman Abramovich to study the smallprint of Scolari's
new contract? Of course not. But Scolari might yet ask for a quick
look at the contracts of Ballack, Bosingwa and Ferreira.