Gary Lineker once said "Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win."
What is it about the Germans and their ability to remain cool, calm, and composed when other teams, namely England, lose the run of themselves when the stakes are high?
They don't practise penalties any more than any other nation, yet when it comes to a shootout they are inevitably the favourites. The reason for that is a reputation German teams have built down the years around never letting up, and Didi Hamman has raised an interesting point while explaining why you don't see the same from English teams.
In Simon Hughes' book 'Ring Of Fire' which was recently released and is available in all good bookshops now, Hamann pointed to the difference in reaction from Paul Gascoigne to Michael Ballack when both players were sent off with time left to play in World Cup semi-finals.
1990 World Cup final, Lothar Matthaus could not take a penalty because the stud in his boot had broken off. It was 0-0 with five minutes to go against Argentina, so he asked his best mate of many years, Andy Brehme, to take the kick instead. Brehme tucked it away, Germany won the World Cup, but people still have a go at Matthaus for supposedly bottling it — even though the goal was scored.
'In England, there is a message that it's OK to fail. You can see Paul Gascoigne as another example — again at the 1990 World Cup. He was booked in the semi-final and, knowing he would miss the final, was too upset to take a penalty in the shoot-out that followed.
If that happened in Germany, he would not have been allowed back in the country. Gascoigne would have been accused of letting the team down and the whole nation.
Compare Gascoigne's response to the reaction of Michael Ballack, who received a second booking in the 2002 World Cup semi-final, meaning he would miss the final. Michael was arguing with Carsten Ramelow, who'd given the ball away leading to the foul. I know because I was standing next to Carsten!
Michael said, "Come on, lads, we've still got twenty-five to go and win this!" He wasn't feeling sorry for himself.
Gazza's tears are, funnily enough, one of the fonder memories for England fans over the past few decades. He is praised for caring so much about England, about playing in the final, that he couldn't mask his emotions...
Hamann reckons that in Germany he would have been deemed unacceptable, something that would have seen him vilified by the public, and as a result you don't see that sort of behaviour from German players.
It's an interesting point, and an idea as to just how different the culture surrounding both English and German football is.
