Once again we reminisce as we go back to my “Name on the Trophy” blog from last September where by I wrote about three e-mails I found from back the 26th May 2004.
The e-mails were entitled “Name on the Trophy!!! 26/05/1999 (1), (2) and (3)” and it was a load of quotes from the world of TV commentary from the day, as well as various newspaper reports from the days after the event. Below are another two of those reports and I have many more to come, enjoy reading them. I have.
So this is what it takes to break the spirit of the Germans. When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored his winning goal, half the Bayern Munich side fell to the ground and only reluctantly responded to the pleading of Oliver Kahn, their captain, to restart the European Cup final. For once, this formidable race of footballers could not be persuaded that any hope remained.
The Germans, rightly renowned for their powers of recovery, accepted that time had run out on them. As with any contest that is so hard-fought, an entirely different course might have been taken. Had Mehmet Scholl, a substitute, or Carsten Jancker added to the lead instead of hitting the frame of the goal, ecstasy would have taken root at the other end of the Nou Camp.
In practice, it is the Bundes-liga’s finest who will have to lie awake and torment themselves with the thoughts of what might have been. English glee must be forgiven. The wait for the role-reversal has been a long one and the only trick still beyond Manchester United may be the gift of uniting the entire country. Their power and wealth will continue to irk some and cause envy in others, but, at Old Trafford, England’s “30 years of hurt” have been avenged.
“It was inconceivable for us,” Ottmar Hitzfeld, the Bayern coach, said of the climax to the match. “You can lose a goal and expect that you might have to play extra-time, but what happened was a tragic loss for us. Manchester United never gave up. The equaliser came as a shock to my team, but they can go home proud of their performance. We were a little unlucky, but United deserve to be champions.”
His magnanimity was all the more laudable, given the lack of practice. The World Cup may have gone badly last year, but Germans, at club or international level, have not adjusted to inadequacy. Their powers are depleting only slowly and it took stoppage time to bring to them to complete collapse.
Instead of being a hallmark of excellence, Lothar Matthäus, the veteran, had to epitomise the exhaustion of gifts. He had been encouraged, at 38, to be forthright, to work in midfield as much as he did behind the defence as a sweeper. His capacity for such a performance is much smaller than his lingering legend and, eventually, he signalled that he would have to be substituted. “I wanted him to play constantly, but he was not fit enough to do so,” Hitzfeld said.
The trauma of the night will prove all the greater for its unexpectedness. Bayern’s training ground is on Under Sabener Strasse, but the players seemed to think they were on Easy Street as they prepared there. Even if it would be wrong to deem them complacent, the visitor to their premises a fortnight ago could not mistake the poise of Hitzfeld’s team. On the open day held for the international press, bland compliments to United were rolled out along with the red carpet.
None of that respect, however, was paid at a cost to trust in themselves. At the Nou Camp, United had to contend with a side that is absolutely convinced of its capacity to accomplish a given task. Where Bundesliga footballers are concerned, the term arrogance is often bandied around, but it is a poor fit for the true mental state. Arrogance rests on miscalculation, whereas the Germans have thrived on being absolutely correct in their calculations.
Ferguson’s squad is hardly tremulous, but the players began the European Cup final as if they hoped they might be given a spell to settle. In that period, by contrast, Bayern were concerted in their work. The Bundesliga champions possess less talent than the serial winners of the FA Carling Premiership, but, this season, they have, until now, made every ounce of their gifts tell.
There were no grand performances to stretch across an entire evening, just significant touches in the merest shavings of time. Still, the parings of quality could glimmer, as when, early in the second half, Stefan Effenberg’s pass, delivered with quicksilver touch, took play into the path of Matthäus. The move continued and Basler forced a corner.
Matthäus’s doomed search for the one winner’s medal that he has craved and so far lacked was a romantic quest, but it was couched in a team dedicated to pragmatism. At the beginning of the week, Hitzfeld had announced that Markus Babbel, a centre back, would play on the right instead of Thomas Strunz, an adventurous wing back.
The precautions did not save them from anguish. “My players will need days and weeks to recover,” Hitzfeld said. United have other plans for the summer.
#10 Hitzfeld magnanimous in defeat THE TIMES
Kevin McCarra says even German resilience could not cope with two such hammer blows
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