| 24.06.2008 |
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Wednesday's Germany-Turkey game is big -- you know this. Bigger still is the wave of worry that has swept Germany about how well the many fans of both national teams will be able to get along on the streets of Germany at about 10:30pm local time (11:30 in case of extra time and PK's). Somebody's got to lose, and how are they going to take it? A lot of my older colleagues with kids are not letting them go to public viewing areas, and other friends are thinking about where to go watch that will be away from any drama. (Me, I live in a Turkish neighborhood, and thus have no choice but to take what comes.) There's not exactly a wellspring of unequivocally warm feeling between Turks and Germans, so things could always turn ugly. But whatever happens may well hang on the game itself. If the teams stay friendly, if the referees judge fairly, the night should end peacefully. But should we get a red card or two, a galling offside or penalty decision...let the street fighting begin. Anyway, my radio report on some of this stuff in Cologne in particular is pasted below. |
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| 24.06.2008 |
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| While I am glad to see the back of Steve McLaren and believe that if anyone can drag England back into contention it's Fabio Capello, I must admit watching Guus Hiddink wave his magic wand again has me thinking what the great man could have done for the Three Lions. Everyone thinks the biggest mistake the English Football Association (FA) made after Sven-Goran Eriksson quit was to appoint the perma-tanned clown McLaren as head coach. In fact, the comedy of errors started way before that when the FA completely blanked Hiddink despite his interest in the England job. The suits at Lancaster Gate didn't even ask Big Guus along for an informal chat, let alone formerly interview a man whose CV and character made him the perfect candidate. Teams that play exciting, flowing football? Check. Proven winner? Check. Experience of guiding mediocre teams to the latter stages of major championships? Check. Does he want the job? Check. The FA's biggest crime to date is ignoring all the facts: Guus Hiddink would have saved England and we would have been talking about them as participants in this tournament had he been given the chance.  Who's to say that Fab won't complete the Italian Job on our pampered egomaniacs and make a competitive team out of them again? I hope (more than think) he will. Capello is probably one of only a handful of coaches with the standing and record to be considered as a rival to Hiddink. After scaring off Luiz Felipe Scolari and lacking the balls to appoint the maverick Jose Mourinho, the English FA finally got a man with the qualities needed to handle the job - but it was a tournament too late for many. Russia's development into contenders on the pitch at Euro 2008 has much to do with the return of Andrei Arshavin but the man who put this team into the semi-finals is Guus Hiddink. He is the man who steered Russia to the last stages of Euro 2008 while the England squad sunned themselves idly on various expensive beaches around the world. That is Hiddink's victory. If that fact alone isn't enough evidence that the FA got it wrong by ignoring the Dutchman, then cast your minds back to October 17, 2007. England arrived in Moscow with their qualification destiny in their own hands and looked to have done themselves a favor when Wayne Rooney volleyed home on 29 minutes. But two Roman Pavlyuchenko goals and a shell-shocked response by both England's players and coach left them needing to beat Croatia at Wembley a month later to have any hope. Again, England imploded while looking to an inadequate manager to inspire them. The rest is history.  In Moscow, Hiddink worked England out in much the same way as Scolari had managed to do as Brazil coach in 2002 and as Portugal chief in 2004 and 2006. It was simple: change tactics and formations regularly, get them with their backs against the wall and watch as their game plan unravels. Eriksson's England never had a Plan B and neither did McLaren's. Just imagine if the man destroying the dream with guile and bravery had been the one in an an England tracksuit? We will probably never know what an England team would look and play like under Guus Hiddink. The FA probably denied him his last opportunity to take the job. But watching the Russians in full flow at Euro 2008, I can't help imagining what magic the master motivator and technician could have conjured up with the likes of Wazza & Co. |
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