By Barry Whelan Jul 9, 2006, 13:59 GMT
Stuttgart/Berlin - A joyful World Cup campaign for Germany ended in a night of celebration and fireworks in Stuttgart following a 3-1 victory over Portugal in the play-off match for third place.
Emotions ran high on a memorable evening in the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in which Bastian Schweinsteiger scored twice for the hosts with long-range shots and Nuno Gomes headed a late goal for Portugal from a Luis Figo cross.
The victory enabled Germany to leave the tournament on a high, with six wins out of seven and the knowledge that they have made a major contribution to the success of the tournament in their country.
With a hero's welcome awaiting Juergen Klinsmann and his squad in Berlin on Sunday, the feel-good factor in Germany during the four-week tournament reached a climax on the last World Cup weekend.
A new Germany seems to have been discovered, with Klinsmann and his vibrant team acting as the catalyst for an outpouring of emotion and support in a way which had hardly seemed possible a month ago.
The drama in Stuttgart was as much off as on the pitch during the 90 minutes. For two of the biggest names in the game, Figo and Oliver Kahn in the German goal, the 'mini final' marked the end of their international careers. But the question on everyone's lips was whether it was also the last game as coach for Klinsmann.
At the end of the game, when the victorious German team received their bronze medals from UEFA vice president Michel Platini, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German President Horst Koehler, Klinsmann was embraced by Franz Beckenbauer, president of the organizing committee, with the message that he should carry on.
'He said to me that I better continue, or else....,' Klinsmann said.
But Klinsman's reply was a typical non-committal Beckenbauer one: 'We'll see.'
'I don't know if I will continue,' he added. 'I have to just go through all of this and I will give myself a few days before taking any decisions.
'There are so many things that go through my head - I am pleased that everybody is saying that I should have a few days to decide. I know that the team is behind me and that means a lot.'
Meanwhile Portugal's Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari may stay on after all, according to reports in the Portuguese media Sunday. Scolari is being offered a new contract and appears willing to sign.
'We didn't do anything wrong, but the German side finished very well and was very efficient,' he said.
'That's what decided the game. The crowd were fantastic - it was a match between friends. That's what makes football so wonderful.'
For Kahn it was a fitting farewell from international football at the age of 37. After collecting his third-place medal, Kahn said it was time to concentrate on his club football with Bayern Munich.
Of all the matches in his career - the 2002 World Cup final, Champions League and domestic cup finals - this match for third place had been 'perhaps the most emotional moment' of all.
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