By Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Jul 5, 2006, 13:43 GMT
Berlin - Never mind about the final we missed - Germany can keep on smiling. The 0-2 loss to Italy won't really put an end to the great atmosphere.
Dejected German Michael Ballack waves after the extra time of the semi final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup between Germany and Italy in Dortmund, Germany, Tuesday, 04 July 2006. Germany lost 0-2. EPA/MICHAEL HANSCHKE
For the players, though, it's cold comfort to know that they were a part of the best match in the tournament. It hurts to be knocked out. Italy weren't lucky to win - Germany were unlucky to lose.
Now it's third place. As a footballer, I've always been against this match. It's one that no one likes playing. Mostly, it's contested by players who haven't been used yet.
But for the fans, it will gain in importance because Germany will be taking part. Like against Mexico in the Confed Cup. It's a sort of balsam for the missed final.
The 1970 semi-final between Italy and Germany has been declared a match of the century. In my opinion, the 0-2 against Italy is also one that should go down in the annals.
Technically and tactically it was on the highest level, as it was for pure drama, even if it ended negatively for us.
Italy went straight onto the attack. Their players knew that scoring the first goal would open the door to the final.
Coach Marcello Lippi, in contrast to his Argentine counterpart in the earlier match against us, did everything right.
And I've seldom seen a player dominate the midfield as Andrea Pirlo did. He made perfect use of his freedom, with his marker Sebastian Kehl also having to cope with Francesco Totti.
No wonder, then, that it was he who set up the decisive 1-0. In a situation like that, in the position he was in, you would normally shoot.
Instead, he coolly drew three players to him, then passed to Fabio Grosso. He held his nerve and curled the ball instead of hitting it hard. It cut us to the quick - but it was a great climax to a great game.
Looking back on this overwhelming World Cup, there is now only a distant memory of the typical German moaning and groaning such as the Stiftung Warentest consumer organisation had about our allegedly unsafe stadiums.
I have just seen a report by an Italian which speaks of the finest stadiums in the world. The one in Kaiserslautern, he said, was even the most beautiful structure in the region.
That only adds to my own impression of this being a World Cup of superlatives. And I've been going to World Cups since Argentina in 1978.
The sheer joy of the people in Mexico in 1986, the hospitality of the Italians in 1990, or the excellence of the stadiums in Korea and Japan in 2002 - it's all come together again here in Germany.
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