GER: Juergen Klinsmann (21 pen), Matthias Sammer (59).

CRO: Davor Suker (51).

GER: Koepke 6.5; Reuter 6, Babbel 6, SAMMER 7, Helmer 6, Ziege 5; Scholl 5 (Haessler, 87), Eilts 6, Moeller 5.5; Klinsmann 5 (Freund, 38 - 5), Bobic 5 (Kuntz, 46 - 5.5).

CRO: Ladic 5; Stanic 5, Jerkan 5, Stimac (RED, 56), Bilic 5.5, Jarni 5; Jurcevic 5 (Mladenovic, 78), Boban 4.5, Asanovic 5; Vlaovic 5, Suker 6.

REFEREE: Leigh Sundell (Sweden).

AUDIENCE: 43.412, Old Trafford, Manchester.

YELLOW CARDS: Sammer, Klinsmann (Germany); Stimac (Croatia).

RED CARDS: NONE (Germany); Igor Stimac (Croatia).

Before the tournament, I told that Croatia would become the Champions, beating the Spanish team in the final. The draw, however, had their ways crossed in the semifinals, and both of the teams deserved to get there, according to what they showed us in the quarterfinal games. But guess what? THE DAMNED OFFICIALS DENIED BOTH TEAMS THE SEMIFINALS' ENTRY!

Strange but true, I feel that a certain unjustice has been done also to England and Germany. The two excellent teams will be remembered by now mostly for the refereeing in their favour which helped them to pass the better opponents. England, on its side, made a courageous move and declared that eliminating Spain had been achieved also due to the referee's mistakes in English favor. Now I expect Germany to do the same fair move.

When coming from Russia to visit us and talking to me about soccer, my uncle asked me: "What can you say about the referees in Israel?" "Badly prepared and amateurish, most of them", I answered immediately. But after the EC'96, I have to state that the Israeli referees are amongst the best in the World. No Israeli referee would disallow the goal scored by Munteanu, dismiss the penalties earned by Alfonso and Moldovan, and arguably disallow the goal scored by Stoichkov. For sure, no Israeli referee would leave Juergen Klinsmann on the pitch yesterday after the 7th minute, with all the respect I feel to this wonderful forward. But the European referees can make mistakes - they are "just humans".

And I have a certain statement to the prestigeous and fashionable teams all over the world. From now on, you can kick, beat, bite and kill your opponents on the pitch. Everything is permitted. You're the best. You have to win, it's written in the soccer books even before your games. Don't let us down, just look at Germany. Klinsmann knocked down Vlaovic from behind with a karate kick after 7 minutes of play, but got just booked instead of being immediately sent off; and guess what, he scored a penalty later on. Thomas Helmer (34) made a step to block Suker illegally in the box after the wonderful misleading move of the Croatian; and was Helmer punished with a penalty kick? And the peak was reached after 59 minutes, with a "Who the hell are you?" push of Marcus Babbel on Nikola Jerkan completely disregarded in the light of the goal pass he made to Sammer later on. You see? It's worthwhile to be cruel, it makes you win!

And there was a game too, a cruel one with no referee to calm it. Klinsmann deserved a red card and got just a booking (7), and Slaven Bilic deserved a red card without getting any card for an unsportive behaviour of his (28). But once a referee was right (like in the test of psychometry, this is nearly impossible to get all the answers wrong). Mehmet Scholl sent Matthias Sammer into the box, and the ball was denied from the latter by a hand of Jerkan, a stupid move by the Croatian defender; it sent Klinsmann to a penalty spot (21). In this tournament, the keepers guess nearly all the penalties' directions, and so you have to be very precise and preferably strong. Klinsmann shot a perfect ball to his left, Ladic reacted and jumped, missing the ball by centimeters. 1:0.

Beforehand, there were 2 opportunities - Moeller (14) shot a free kick from 35 meters right to the hands of Ladic, and on the other side, Vlaovic (14) had an incredible opportunity to score in one-to-one with Koepke, but shot wide. But after the goal, all the opportunities were of Croatia. Bilic (22) headed it high, the great shot of Suker from 25 meters was denied by Koepke (27), the bomb of Boban after a great penetration went high again (30). The penalty caused by Helmer (34) on Suker wasn't given (see the description above), and the header of Boban after Suker's preparation went high (45); Koepke collected the ball of Suker from inside the box (44). The only attack of Germany then was after 37 minutes - Scholl found Klinsmann, the latter passed it to Bobic, but Bobic shot it high with a scissors kick. Right after that moment, Klinsmann was substituted, having been injured 10 minutes beforehand in a collision with Igor Stimac.

The 2nd half was opened by Suker, who shot from inside the box while turning around; Koepke was there to stretch and to take it tight (46). On the other side, Ladic denied Ziege from reaching the ball (49). But then an equalizer of Croatia came. Sammer (51) passed the ball back to Freund, and Freund, being pressed by Jurcevic, lost the ball to him near the box. The ball rolled to Suker, and the Croatian genius became the first player of EC'96 to score against Germany, with a fabulous move. He rushed into the box, prepared to shoot with his right to mislead Koepke, rolled the ball past the keeper with his left and then rolled it into an empty net with his right. The stadium burst into applauses of admiration. 1:1.

Croatia was eager to continue the trend, but Igor Stimac (56) performed a redundant foul on Kuntz and saw the 2nd yellow card; the second good decision of the referee through the whole game (not bad, eh?). 2 minutes have passed, and one of the most unjustified goals in this tournament was scored. Markus Babbel got a ball at the right wing and tried to pass it into the box, but was denied by Jerkan. The ball went back to Babbel who stared on Jerkan, pushed him away then so that Jerkan landed 3 meters from the ball, and then made a pass into the box; Sammer stopped the ball there and bombed it from 4 meters to the far corner of a totally helpless Ladic. Surprisingly, the goal was allowed. 2:1.

Croatia was broken by this goal, and despite the fact it attacked most of the time, we had a feeling that the equalizer wouldn't come. Suker headed it well twice (63, 67), but Koepke was well-placed; Vlaovic (64) volleyed it away, and Suker again (90) missed the frame from within the box; he could've tried to get the penalty kick awarded penetrating by force between the two defenders, but it seems like Suker learned the referee's nature. But the best opportunity was of Germany - a wonderful penetration by Kuntz (72) at the left wing resulted in a pass to Scholl, but the forward volleyed it away in front of an empty net, a miss by Germans to be remembered for long. And so, the game ended, 2:1.

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