Munich - The Bavarian capital may finally lose its negative historical connotations in the Czech Republic after its national football team defeated their German counterparts at Munich´s Allianz Arena last night, securing a place at the European championship next year.
Munich Euphoria of 2007 may well replace the infamous Munich Agreement of 1938 (sometimes also referred to as Munich Betrayal) in Czech popular consciousness, laying the memories of Western powers yielding to Hitler´s territorial demands towards the pre-war Czechoslovakia to a long overdue rest.
Shock and awe, Czech-style
Not hindered by some high-profile last-minute changes to the team´s starting line-up, Czechs shocked the nearly sold-out stadium after mere 112 seconds of play with Libor Sionko´s opening score.
Never the ones to give up easily, Germans soon started proving their worth as bronze medalists from the last World Cup. But once again, the lightning struck from the unexpected side in the 23rd minute after Marek Matějovský brilliantly fought his way past two defenders and goalkeeper Hildebrand to put the Czech team ahead 2-0.
Staying scoreless throughout the first half, the home side was first stabbed in the back by their whistling fans after about an hour of play, and it was to continue all the way until the end (and well afterwards).
Some six thousands Czechs in the stands (roughly a tenth of the overall audience) happily took care of the cheering and clapping and they were rewarded once again in the 64th minute when Jaroslav Plašil made good of a beautiful pass from Daniel Pudil and hit the open corner of the goal with his left foot.
Happy. Disappointed
"I'm very happy," Czech coach Karel Brueckner told a news conference after the match. "We worked hard in preparation and they did everything we wanted on the field."
"The early goal was important but it wasn't decisive. The hard work of every player made the difference," he added.
His German counterpart Joachim Loew, whose upcoming contract extension suddenly looks less certain then it did last week, when Germans qualified as the first country for the 2008 European championship in Austria and Switzerland, had nothing positive to say, understandably.
"The match was disappointing across the board," he said. "All the things we do well were missing. We played poorly, pure and simple. It was a day to forget."
Wishful thinking, no doubt, as a brief glance in the German press shows. Munich´s own Sueddeutsche Zeitung uses a headline "Shattered in the Character Test" on its web-site to remind the coach of the phrase he himself used a few days ago when describing what was at stake in the match where Germans had seemingly nothing to lose. Except for the self-esteem, perhaps.
