The expectation: Having never eaten or even set foot in this restaurant, I am relying solely on the fact that the sign on the awning says Restaurant and Bar. The lack of banners trumpeting the World Cup outside has me fearful that the guy behind the bar is going to be too deeply engrossed in the Yankees game to switch the channel.
Here goes nothing...
This kind of start was unusual to me, because I always think of Germany as the sort of team that scores the bulk of its goals off of crossing passes and headers. This is how they killed us in 1998 and 2002 (granted, Ollie Kahn and a missed hands call by the ref deserve equal credit in the latter case). I'm interpreting this as an indicator of the general youth of the German team.
Of the eight or so people watching the game, most were vocal Germany fans, so this was a definite mood lifter. Less than seven minutes after the first score, however, Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rica's best player, caught German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann and evened the score. Most of us in the bar thought it Wanchope was offsides, but it seemed that one of the German backs (offscreen in the initial closeup) had been lagging his teammates in setting the trap. This is the biggest German weakness I saw: limited speed and coordination on the back line.
Back to the game...Another five minutes after Wanchope tied the game, Miroslav Klose, star of the 2002 German World Cup team punched in a goal with his left foot.
After that, things went into a bit of a rhythmic lull. Part of it had to do with the two teams losing steam after a fast and furious opening and part of it had to with my second beer. Soccer critics typically deride the game as too boring and too defensive. It's a valid complaint, because even though there's always the danger of a fluke goal, there are certain points in every match when you just know both teams are waiting for the halftime whistle. What keeps me from changing the channel during these times is the fact that you generally get an insight into a team's bread and butter fundamental strengths and weaknesses.
In the case of Germany, and European teams in general, the fundamental strength is ball control. German midfielders generally can get the ball from their penalty box to the opponent's penalty box in less than five passes. This seems fairly simple but it is something we Americans have only just lately started to master. The reason why is it takes phenomenal ball control, dribbling skill and field awareness to string together anything more than three passes on the World Cup stage, the kind of skill that comes only from touching a soccer ball every waking moment of your life and playing against the kind of athletes who currently specialize in basketball hustling at Rucker Park. For that reason, watching the Germans set a six pass run with nary a backwards movement of the ball becomes its own entertainment and enough to while away the dull stretches.
In the case of Costa Rica, and Latin American teams in general, the fundamental strength is team speed and a brash confidence in team goal-scoring ability once the opportunity is created. From the Ticos perspective, it doesn't matter how many passes the Germans string together. All they have to do is get it to Wanchope or any of their other speedy frontmen and let the athleticism take over. In a way, the Latin American approach is sort of like the old San Francisco 49ers approach to football: Keep the game even until Jerry Rice or John Taylor can deliver the game-breaking play.
The strategy only works, however, if you can keep the other team out of your goal. Less than 15 minutes into the second half Klose would deliver a second goal, picking up his own rebound off Costa Rican goalie Jose Porras after Porras failed to knock the first shot away from the goal mouth. Although Wanchope added another goal in the 73rd minute, the Ticos were digging themselves out of a deepening hole.
Am reminded of the billboard I once saw advertising for The Black Forest Inn, a very popular German eatery in Minneapolis, Minn.: "Americans love our food. German tourists find it surprisingly adequate."
My only regret is that, because I spent the whole game at the bar, I did not have my World Cup match augmented by the witty banter with the charming German-accented waitress as this couple did.
Next Thursday, however, brings a big matchup: Germany vs. Poland. Today's man of the match, Klose (2 goals), is a Polish-born immigrant, one of several non-native players on the German national team. Expect the political and soccer pundits alike to make much of the matchup.
As for the Nurnberger Bierhaus, I give it high marks. The only thing missing was a larger crowd of noisy fans to give you the "almost there" sensation. Then again, that's the purpose of this story. If you're a soccer fan and you're looking for a place on the island to watch the games, especially the German games, this is the place to do it. The TV's are high def, and the staff know the game. I'm not sure I can say the same for the island's other two German spots (Kilmeyer's over on Arthur Kill and Schaeffer's over on Victory). Despite a competitive beer selection, both of those places seem more like the kind of a bars you'd go to catch the Yankees-Mets matchup.
Anyway, here are what I consider the big, take-a-break-from-the-workday matches for the coming week.
- USA v. Czech Republic, Monday, noon.
Brazil v. Croatia, Tuesday, 3 p.m.
Tunisia v. Saudi Arabia, Wed. noon [Tunisia is supposed to be good, Saudi Arabia still owes us for 9/11, so it'll be a good chance to gloat when the Saudis lose 9-nil].
Germany v. Poland, Wed. 3 p.m. [The last time these two countries met, Warsaw got leveled, so expect the Poles to play way over their heads].
England v. Trinidad, Thurs noon [colonies vs. their former colonial masters: always a good World Cup setup]
Argentina v. Serbia-Montenegro [The early skinny has Argentina's Carlos "Apache" Tevez as a Maradona-in-waiting. Chances are it's just hype, but why risk it.]