Germany faced off against England in the marquee game last night, that also happened to be the farewell game for Lukas Podolski. Somehow he managed to collect 130 caps for Die Mannschaft over the years but we all know toward the end of his career, he was the social glue to an otherwise stoic German side.
This is taking nothing away from how amazing he was in major tournaments starting in 06, and his final appearance last night rolled back the years to the FC Koln Podolski we all came to love.
Gary Liniker once said "football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win". He inevitably tweeted something similar last night, but this couldn't have been more of the case last night. It was a tale of two completely different mindsets about a game. Germany was sending off their social warrior while surrounding him with a young crop of scruffy faced ballers. England on the other hand put their strongest foot forward in an attempt to impress their new boss.
England had much of the better play out of the gates. Lallana managed to hit the post and turn Kimmich into a traffic cone more times than not. Just as i started to ramble to my friend about the immense pressing, Kimmich came in from right back with some Guardiola wizardry to break the entire whole press and 2 passes later, Poldi fired a laser into the top corner.
Football is cruel and at times unfair, but it seems as though Germany does this all too often, where they don't look necessarily the better side, but find a way to win and more importantly, its expected. It could not be more of the opposite with England; you just come to expect failure and collapse. There is so much unneeded pressure that I can't imagine its the best environment to really perform at your best. This game was just a microcosm of what really goes on with England's national team. Germany played with a freedom that allowed them to convert when they had to and England were playing to win a friendly as if the world really depended on it and maybe in turn, missed some crucial chances. Yes England usually do well in qualifying but its the external pressure and expectations that I think really thwart the potential of pretty decent side.
Thanks for the lesson on shooting technique Poldi, class act! Also, i'm almost sick of hearing about this young generation of uber German ballers but my god, this is a nifty bunch. That's it for now.
Tscho Poldi!
