 |
(graham 24:00) It is now
That's it then. The speculation is all over. The wallcharts have all been completed. We had joy we had fun, we had a day or two of sun. See you in 2006 (unless you fancy doing a 'Road to Euro 2004' website?)
The final line-up
Germany: Kahn, Linke, Ramelow, Metzelder, Frings, Schneider,Jeremies (Asamoah 77), Hamann, Bode (Ziege 84), Neuville,Klose (Bierhoff 73).
Subs Not Used: Baumann, Bohme, Butt, Jancker, Kehl, Lehmann,Rehmer, Ricken.
Booked: Klose.
Brazil: Marcos, Edmilson, Lucio, Roque Junior, Cafu, Kleberson,Gilberto, Carlos, Ronaldinho (Juninho Paulista 85), Rivaldo,Ronaldo (Denilson 90).
Subs Not Used: Belleti, Ceni, Dida, Edilson, Junior, Kaka,Luizao, Polga, Ricardinho, Vampeta.
Booked: Roque Junior.
Attendance: 69,029.
Referee: Pierluigi Collina (Italy).
Golden Boot Top 10
1 Ronaldo, Brazil 8
2 Klose, Germany 5
3 Rivaldo, Brazil 5
4 Tomasson, Denmark 4
5 Vieri, Italy 4
6 Ballack, Germany 3
7 Diop, Senegal 3
8 Keane, Rep of Ireland 3
9 Larsson, Sweden 3
10 Mansiz, Turkey 3
(stefan 14:55) World Cup Final Report
You know it's the day of the World Cup Final when you see ordinary folk in ordinary streets in ordinary towns dressed from head to toe in yellow and green, with faces painted, supporting a country the other side of the world.
As Pierluigi "Uncle Festa" Collina stepped out onto the field flanked by Hugh Dallas (insert joke about a Scotsman in the final here), you felt that this was going to be one of the good ones, one to rival 1970 - and it was.
Rudi Voller made his intentions clear before the game, stating that the only way for Germany to win was by "neutralising the Brazillians". And they were by far the better side in the first 20 minutes as the energy shown in the last 6 games by Brazil seemed to take its toll. But it was the South Americans who made more chances, capitalising on goalkeeping errors and a surprisingly poor German defensive performance.
I opted for the BBC's coverage - you can't enjoy a game as big as this without Motty - and took advantage of their interactive service to stat myself up to the max.
"GOD IS BRAZILLIAN" the banners said, and they were right - he was on the pitch wearing the number 9 shirt.
Here's my minute-by-minute match report:
| |
| First half: |
| 5 | Roque Jr gets booked for a collision with Oliver "Duncan" Neuville. |
| 8 | Miroslav Klose's elbow catches Edmilson's nose and earns the German a yellow card. |
| 9 | Klose gets very near with a chance that's just cleared for a corner. |
| 14 | Klose wins another corner for Germany but the ball is cleared. Roberto Carlos gives away a free kick near the penalty area but the ball causes the Brazilian defence no problems. |
| 18 | A pass through to Ronaldo is taken well but just pushed wide to the left of goal. |
| 29 | A great flick on over the German defence by Ronaldinho allows Ronaldo to get through once more, but he can't quite connect his outstretched right leg and the ball is collected by Kahn. |
| 40 | The first long-range shot of the game falls to Jens Jeremies who puts the ball over the top and to the right of Marcos's goal. |
| 41 | Kleberson has a crack at goal but the ball bounces low and to the right of the target. |
| 44 | Kleberson lifts a long-range effort over the German back four which loops over Kahn's head but bounces back into play off the crossbar. |
| 45 | Lucio wins a corner right on half-time but Germany clear the ball well. |
| 45 | Ronaldo rides his luck and finds the ball at his feet from a Roberto Carlos cross, but turns and strikes the ball straight at the German keeper. |
|
|
|
| First half |
BRAZIL |
GERMANY |
| Shots on target |
6 |
1 |
| Corners won |
5 |
2 |
| Posession |
56% |
44% |
| Yellow cards |
1 |
1 |
| |
| Second half: |
| 45 | A Jens Jeremies header from Neuville's corner is stopped by Edmilson and cleared to safety. |
| 48 | Neuville hits a fantastic free-kick towards the goal but keeper Marcos just palms it onto the left upright. Almost the first ever direct goal from a free-kick in a World Cup final. |
| 51 | A Brazillian corner is taken quickly and the ball finds Gilberto Silva's head, but is saved well by Kahn. |
| 56 | Another long-range free-kick is taken by Dietmar Hamaan but the ball goes over the bar. |
| 60 | Edmilson takes almost a whole two minutes to put on a new shirt after his last one is ripped. The game stops and referee Collina smiles as he blows again to restart the game. |
| 62 | GOAL Ronaldo muscles Hamaan off the ball and Rivaldo drives a thundering shot which Kahn fumbles. Ronaldo pounces on the loose ball and slides it into the back of the German net for a Brazillian goal. |
| 73 | A Brazillian player will get the golden boot awards as Germany's Klose substituted for Oliver Bierhoff. |
| 78 | GOAL The golden boot is surely going to be on Ronaldo's mantlepiece after he nets his 8th goal of the tournament. A swerving cross from Kleberson on the right is dummied brilliantly by Rivaldo leaving Ronaldo on his own to place the ball in the bottom right corner of Kahn's net. |
| 82 | A ball into the crowded box is pounced on by Oliver Bierhoff but saved instinctively by Marcos. |
| 84 | The young and thoroughly impressive Ronaldinho is swapped for Juninho. |
| 89 | Cheeky Denilson comes on for two-goal hero and man of the tournament Ronaldo. The young Brazillian who has come back from so much injury and pain receives a huge roar from his supporters as he leaves the field. |
| 92 | Ronaldo can be seen crying in delight as he waits for the final whistle. |
| 93 | Full time Pierluigi Collina lifts his left arm and blows the whistle to end the game. Brazil have won the world cup. |
When presented with the Jules Rimet trophy, captain Cafu ended his last ever international for Brazil by getting up onto the highest part of the presentation platform, speaking a few words to himself and lifting it high above his head.
The 69,000 strong crowd cheered and clapped the Brazillian team as they danced around the stadium for almost 20 minutes more.
What a fantastic World Cup Final to end a fantastic World Cup.
(graham 09:50) The end of the road
Having said yesterday that I wasn't too bothered (some sort of pre-breakfast mind disturbance), I find myself this morning in a state of increasing anticipation and am generally very aroused by the prospect of the Final, just two hours away... May it be a glorious sporting event. If not, please let it be full of outrage.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
World Cup Final
Brazil 2-0 Germany
Yokohama, 12:00 GMT
|
|
|