By Barry Whelan Jul 8, 2006, 23:22 GMT
Stuttgart - Matches for third place, who needs them? Who remembers them? Who came third and fourth in 1994? Or 1978, for instance?
If you know that and can even quickly recite the scores, then the 2006 World Cup consolation final in Stuttgart will always be worth remembering irrespective of the events on the pitch.
Yet the chances are that Saturday's match for third place between hosts Germany and Portugal will be memorable for other reasons.
Four goals made it an entertaining affair, and hosts Germany could collect their bronze medals and leave the tournament in the best of spirits after a 3-1 win. Yet there were many other reasons the consolation encounter was not a meaningless affair.
For Portugal it marked the end of their golden era with Luis Figo's swansong from the international stage.
It was not the farewell he would have wanted. Figo, 33, the last survivor of Portugal's 'golden generation' - a group that once included Fernando Couto, Manuel Rui Costa and Manuel Joao Pinto among others and won the under-20 World Cup twice - was left out of the starting line-up.
There was some small consolation when he left the substitutes' bench in the 77th minute, taking the captain's armband from Pauleta, to earn his 127th and last cap in a distinguished career.
Figo's cross at least set up Nuno Gomes to score a late goal for Portugal. Another small consolation.
For Germany, too, a generation change continued with Oliver Kahn's last appearance in goal at a World Cup and possibly, at the age of 37, his last for Germany after 86 caps.
The crowd sang his name during the match in which he pulled off four fine saves, from Pauleta in the first half, and from Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo twice in the second.
At the end it seemed that Kahn and Figo sought each other out to say farewell together with a warm embrace and few words. Words of consolation perhaps.
Kahn had already been downgraded to number two behind Jens Lehmann, who at 36 is also reaching the twilight of his career. As Lehmann sat on the bench in Stuttgart he may have been wondering if his first major international tournament was also his last.
Was it also the last match for Juergen Klinsmann?
The 41-year-old German coach has not yet decided whether to extend his contract which expires at the end of the month.
The chorus of 'Juergen Klinsmann' throughout the match showed what the spectators want.
Klinsmann left the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion ground on which he scored 79 goals in 156 matches for VfB Stuttgart between 1984 and 1989 the most wanted man in Germany. A night for him to remember, and more than consolation for the criticism he took before the World Cup.
His coaching colleague Luiz Felipe Scolari may have also been saying his silent goodbyes as Portugal's coach. The Brazilian has not made his intentions clear.
The match was not welcome for Scolari in the first place. 'On our side of the fence, this game represents suffering, rather than a match you are happy to take part in,' he had moaned. 'After losing to France, it's very difficult to motivate the players for this.'
Despite this, Portugal looked lively enough. But they did not have anyone to Bend it Like Bastian - Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger whose long-range blast in the 56th minute dipped and curved to leave Ricardo in goal grasping at air.
Five minutes later Schweinsteiger decided to have another pot shot with the unpredictable Teamgeist ball and his free-kick was deflected into the net by Petit. Having got a taste for shooting he then belted in Germany's third 12 minutes from time.
Germany striker Miroslav Klose had been looking for an equally memorable game. With five tournament goals he had the incentive to add to his tally of five World Cup goals to win the golden boot as leading World Cup goalscorer.
The 28-year-old Werder Bremen forward was out of luck, but has the consolation of knowing he can effectively only be overtaken by France's Thierry Henry in Sunday's final.
For three other German players, who had not played a minute during the tournament, the third-place game was also plenty of consolation for waiting patiently in the wings.
Defender Jens Nowotny unexpectedly started after Robert Huth injured himself in the warm-up, and striker Mike Hanke and midfielder Thomas Hitzsperger saw some World Cup action as substitutes during the second half.
As the fireworks lit up the night sky and German players began a lap of honour, it was a night for joyous celebration for home fans - and in many ways a memorable match for many.
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