WHILE commentators in the German media yesterday conceded that the better team had won Sunday night's Euro 2008 final in Vienna, some of the country's leading players were not so magnanimous following the 1-0 loss to Spain.
Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann did admit that Spain were worthy winners of their first title in 44 years, but displayed a little sour grapes by criticising the display of Italian referee Roberto Rosetti, describing him as "biased".
"What was disappointi
ng, in my opinion, was the performance of the referee, who didn't really fancy us Germans – and this is the third time I was unlucky with referees in European cup finals," said the former Arsenal goalkeeper, who picked out two incidents in particular. The first was when Spain midfielder David Silva looked to head-butt Lukas Podolski but escaped without punishment, and then in the dying minutes when a promising Germany attack was stopped for what Lehmann felt was a non-existent foul.
Lehmann, who tried to speak to Rosetti after the final whistle, said: "He was very arrogant and in my opinion he was biased. He clearly saw a head-butt from a Spanish player towards Lukas Podolski – he didn't book him or give him a red card. Just before the end, we had a good chance in the penalty area – and all of a sudden, he gave a foul against us where even the Spanish players were surprised to get a free-kick. It was very disappointing."
The veteran goalkeeper was also one of a couple of Germany players to pour cold water on suggestions that Spain's match-winner Fernando Torres is the best striker in the world.
"You are asking someone who played together with Thierry Henry," said Lehmann when quizzed about whether Torres was at the top of the striking pile. "You know that he (Henry] was a god in England performance-wise, so when you take him and compare him to other strikers, there is still a difference. He (Torres] could get there, but it takes a while."
Real Madrid's Christoph Metzelder, who had the daunting task of marking Torres in Vienna on Sunday night, was reluctant to single Torres out as the best. "There are many good strikers and I think it's difficult to say who is the best," he explained. "He (Torres] is a very good player. He decided this game for Spain. He played very well, he scored this very important goal. I think we nearly got the ball for his goal but he was very clever."
Lehmann had few complaints about the final result, though, admitting Spain were full value for their first European Championship success since 1964. "The Spanish have deserved to win because they were the team, together with us, who over the last two to three years were the most consistent; they even won every game in this tournament, so they deserved to win," he said.
German newspapers and TV analysts were almost unanimous in their view that Spain richly deserved to beat a Germany team that, aside from their 3-2 quarter-final win over Portugal, never really got on track. "We're still proud of you," wrote Bild newspaper. "It's bitter. The one goal destroyed our dreams. Unfortunately there was no 'happy ending' to the summer fairytale for us."
German newspapers were full of praise for Spain. "The artists from Spain wouldn't let themselves be bullied around," wrote the Sueddeutsche Zeitung in Munich. "After a strong start Germany lost their way."
Germany's most popular TV analyst, Guenter Netzer of ARD, insisted the best team won in the end. "Congratulations to Spain but also I tip my hat in respect to Germany for even reaching the final," said Netzer, who helped West Germany win the European crown in 1972.
"That's a great success for the team. Spain were the best team throughout the tournament. They played the best football.
"They showed us how limited we are, they showed us how to play football. Spain showed we have a lot of room to improve."
The full article contains 688 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
