On Sunday evening, England made its way into the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Breaking down the impregnable defense of Ecuador, the British were obliged to rehabilitate for their fans, on the eve of which nearly destroyed Stuttgart. However, a nondescript game and a very shaky superiority over rivals made the main characters of the weekend fans from the Foggy Albion. So far, they have much more desires and skills to attract attention than the players themselves.
- Did you see our aircraft carrier before the championship? - a peppy old man in English, who is next to the Izvestia correspondent on the Munich-Stuttgart train, pushes me in the shoulder and looks forward to an answer.
- Which aircraft carrier?
- Well, the one on which the sailors were lined up in such a way that the word "England" came out, - it looked amazing from the sky. You see, we all expect victory. Forty years since the only championship. Ericsson still leaves the team and finalizes without any tension. Gerrard and Lampard in their clubs play like gods. It all fits - we have to win. Therefore, many fans look like guns - they are also charged for victory.
The story of British ambitions is like an excuse for what happened in Germany the day before. On Saturday evening, the central square of Stuttgart drowned in a crowd of people: about 40 thousand people who came here for the sake of their team’s Sunday match watched the game Germany - Sweden. After the meeting, a fight broke out wall to wall, footage from which the whole day did not come out of the air of television channels. English and German fans - one of the most wayward in Europe - threw beer bottles, plastic chairs and other junk that fell into their hands into each other. As a result, about 300 people, most of whom were British, spent the night at the police station to stop being "drunk and aggressive." On Sunday morning, German police took pity on the brawlers and released them from captivity to watch the game.
“As far as I know, on Saturday everything was exactly the same as it is now - a large English fan Bill overturns a liter jug of beer, smokes it and with his eyes bulging with pleasure restores details of the battles. - We occupied the square and sang songs. Many were very drunk and then a group of Germans appeared who for some reason didn’t like us. As a result, either someone looked at someone wrong, or stepped on a foot - and away we go ... Now this is unlikely to happen again: see how much around the cameras. "
Schlosplatz and the truth turned into a film set of "House-2" - people are being monitored from everywhere. Especially charming is the van with a policeman with a camera on its roof. From the incandescent 30-degree heat of the law enforcer and his recording telescope, not only a funny lime beret saves, but also a huge umbrella. If the ardor of the British such surveillance and pacifies, then the vocal cords - not at all. For many hours, the British sing songs and drink beer - from trouble away, now it is bottled exclusively in plastic containers. When English flags appear in the windows of neighboring houses, the people explode with a particularly loud cry. The top of the joy is the red-and-white banner being carried to the upper floor of the neighboring shopping center - it is placed on the site of a German tricolor disappearing in an unknown direction.
Ecuadorian fans scurrying in the English crowd do not cause anger at anyone. An incredible number of them came to the group tournament - about 20 thousand. Now there are fewer times left: neither their expectations nor their wallets were ready for the 1/8 finals. “On average, our people spent about 10 thousand dollars on this trip. We hit three. And we’ll spend a month in Europe,” Pablo and Jorge, dressed in badly soiled Ecuadorian t-shirts, personify the image of proletarian fans - very common in these weeks in Germany. They bought plane tickets last year, travel around the country by hitchhiking, spend the night either in campsites or on the street, eat beer, beer and beer again.
“Do you also think that we have no chance against England?” He asks me. “In vain, we gave the game to Germany on purpose. But we saved our strength and there must be a lot fresher English.” How close the Ecuadorian nomads were to the truth, every witness of the match could see. If not for the inspiration that descended to David Beckham from the stands from his faithful wife, Ecuador would have won the title of the main sensation of the championship until the end of the championship.
Head coach of the German national team Jürgen Klinsmann:
"My next step is to become like a coach of the Russian national team"
The German national team, led by 40-year-old Jürgen Klinsmann, is one of the main revelations of the current championship. If before the start of the mundial the Germans lived among the favorites solely as owners, now their ambitions are supported by a confident game and almost impeccable statistics: 4 wins in 4 matches, 10 goals scored with two goals conceded, access to the quarter-finals. Congratulating Klinsmann on his victory, Izvestia’s special correspondent Yuri Dud reminded him of what preceded the current victories of his team.
Izvestia: Before the World Cup, you were criticized for spending too little time in Germany in the USA. The brilliant performance of the team - proof that you can have a good team, even living away from it?
Jürgen Klinsmann: (after a pause) Well, now I'm in Germany. And all my thoughts, ideas and powers are directed to this team. Who cares where the coach lives? It is important what he is trying to make of the team. In addition, there are examples of how the coaches worked successfully, despite any distances. Guus Hiddink was the head coach of the Dutch PSV and at the same time brought the Australian team to the World Cup. By the way, I also really want to achieve something like this. But that will be my next step.
Izvestia: Did the victory over the Swedes cause you any discontent?
Klinsmann: No, we should be more than satisfied with such a match. The first 30 minutes were just fantastic - I don’t remember the last time they played football like this in Germany. It is not surprising that we enjoyed every goal like children, and even those team members who were not supposed to be there jumped out on the field. I am proud of my players, each of whom played brilliantly. I am proud of the team that I have the happiness of coaching.
Izvestia: After this match, the opinion that we are now watching the most spectacular German national team of the last thirty years has only strengthened. What do you think: do you really have such an unusual team?
Klinsmann: This team is like a fairy tale. We have wonderful relationships in the whole team - from leading players to service personnel. We have excellent health - literally, I mean. In the six weeks that we have been working together, not a single player has been seriously injured - I can let out the optimal squad on the field. We have a penchant for learning: we do not stand still and add with each match. I will be honest if I say that I get incomparable pleasure from this work.
Izvestia: What else does your team need to learn?
Klinsmann: First, we can play even faster. Secondly, we work well with the ball, but now we need to learn how to work without it. However, we have already learned the main thing - adopted the new philosophy of the team. It is simple: in the game you need to rely not only on power and athleticism, but also on technology.
Izvestia: The world community cannot understand how such a young specialist, without any coaching experience, can manage a team like that. And the truth is: how?
Klinsmann: My assistants have experience. I constantly borrow from them something. And when I was a player, I met such trainers from whom I could learn a lot - Trappatoni, Beckenbauer, Menotti. By the way, I saw Luis Menotti before this match. He complimented my work. You can’t even imagine how pleased I was.
Izvestia: How do you explain the game of Miroslav Klose? A vivid performance at two world championships, past and present, and between them - as if an eclipse ...
Klinsmann: Klose is adding every year. And after he moved to Werder Bremen, he completely entered the international level - the local trainer Thomas Schaaf did everything for this. He continues to grow and is at his best footballing age. Like Schneider, Ballack, Frings. This, by the way, is also one of the reasons why everything is so successful with us.
Izvestia: Germany reached the quarter finals. With this achievement your hunger in the championship is already satisfied?
Klinsmann: Nobody should care about me. The hunger of a huge nation, a football nation, is not satisfied. And for her sake we will move on.
Yuri Dud, Stuttgart