An Old Fashioned Trialist Match

Anybody remember those trial games of the late sixties, early seventies? You know, the Improbables v The Highly Unlikely's. Well the World Cup staged the 2006 version tonight when the weakest German team since 1982 played the poorest Polish side ever in Dortmund. Despite the almost rabid enthusiasm of the home fans, apparently the number of tickets applied for was the equivalent of all the W.C venues being sold out tonight, this was a game that didn't take off until two minutes before the end of normal time. Poland looked like a side who didn't think they could win and Germany played like a side who didn't think they could score. Germany, with two Polish born players up front and a Swiss born substitute who would get the winner, had the better of the first half chances and the pattern was repeated in the second half when Jens Lehmann could have got a deck chair out and read a Jeffrey Archer novel (twice).

Having hit the bar twice two minutes from the end of normal time it looked as if both sides would be taking a point away until David Odonkor, the fastest German since Marita Koch, found Oliver Neuville on the six yard line and that was it.