In the 79th minute of last night's Euro 2008 semi-final between Germany and Turkey, two of the most anonymous players on the park combined to produce the match's defining moment.
Jurgen Klose's anonymity stemmed from the fact that he had had nothing to offer, Turkish goalkeeper Rustu's from the fact that he had had nothing to do. Perhaps it was curiosity about the nature of the round white thing that brought Rustu charging off his line towards a speculative Lahm center that he had no chance of reaching, leaving Klose with the simplest of headers into an empty net.
German striker Lukas Podolski and his coach Joachim Loew celebrate after victory on June 25, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
There was a sense of inevitability about the goal. How often have we seen German sides in international competitions overcome their obvious shortcomings in ability and deficiencies in performance to progress far beyond anything that would be justified by the quality of the football they have offered? Last night they were comprehensively outplayed by the Turks in every department, but it is Germany who will contest the final on Sunday.
Even after Klose's goal, the drama continued. Turkey fought their way back to equality with a goal from Semih in the 86th minute. Surely they would get the extra-time chance that their efforts merited? But the Germans were not to be denied. It will do nothing to ease the bitterness of the Turkish pill that the scorer of the winner in the 90th minute was Philipp Lahm. The same Phillip Lahm who had provided the cross for Klose's header. The same Phillip Lahm who had been turned inside out in defence by Turkish winger Sabri Sarioglu for the whole of the preceding 90 minutes.
Poor Rustu Recber will look back at this match in despair. In the whole course of the game he did not make a single save. The statistics tell a baleful story: Germany – three efforts on target; three goals. And for once the statistics provide an accurate picture. In addition to their three goals, Germany had a further four efforts off target - seven attempts in all. The Turks had seventeen, eleven of which were on target – Jens Lehmann had a busy night, and was not always convincing. Turkey had eight corners to Germany's two. The possession statistics went 55%-45% in favour of the Turks.
The match started off with five minutes of sparring. Both teams were crisply into their stride, but moves were breaking down well before they threatened either goal. Then the Turks started to find some penetration.
Ugor Boral on the left looked particularly dangerous – quick and incisive. He whipped in a cross in the fifth minute that was sliced clear. Then Kazim Kazim made space for himself and struck a firm shot from outside the box that Lehmann dealt with. In a pattern that would be repeated for the rest of the match, Lahm lost out to Sabri in a challenge inside the box, but Lehmann was there to block. Sabri again cut in from the right and played the ball back to Kazim, who crashed a shot against the bar with Lehmann this time beaten. The rebound broke to Hakan on the left, but Semih was not quite able to turn in his hard low cross.