Germany ... 1 Poland ... 0Fortune favours the brave. On a night of tremendous passion in Dortmund, a gallant Poland team came memorably close to what would have represented a famous result in this shrine of Ruhr football.
But in the end the host nation, true to the vision of their manager Jurgen Klinsmann, feverishly sought out a win and were rewarded at the death when local hero David Odonkor delivered the perfect cross for substitute striker Oliver Neuville to crash home from close range. It was so cruel on the Poles but it was justified and as Germany can start to look forward to the second round in euphoric mood.
In all the host cities, the Germans have been anxious to welcome all nations and here in Dortmund, home of Borussia, one of the great new powers of the German game, it was the same story. Early in the day visitors from Polska mingled with the Germans, drinking beer and swapping songs around the elegant Ferris wheel in the Hansa-platz.
However, the mood changed later as police detained about 200 German and Polish fans following clashes in the worst outbreak of trouble at the tournament so far. German fans pelted police with beer bottles, fireworks and the chairs and tables from restaurants near Dortmund's Alter Markt.
A Reuters TV cameraman suffered slight injuries after he was punched in the back of the head during the violence. Police said some people had been injured by missiles, but none of them had been badly hurt. Police would not say how long they intended to hold the supporters detained in custody. Hundreds of riot police closed off the Alter Markt to isolate the German fans and then moved in to take around 100 of them away.
The earlier good atmosphere continued in the massive stadium, which was packed to the icon-yellow girders that jut out at obtuse angles into the night sky. Due to some ghost in the machine, this observer was given a seat not in the media section but in the front row, directly behind the German bench, practically close enough to read Klinsmann's tidy sheaf of notes.
We couldn't help but think some terrible administrative error had been committed and that Karl-Heinz Rummenigge or Gerd Muller or some other luminary of yesteryear was sitting way up in the nosebleed section, bewilderedly fielding phone calls from an irate Irishman demanding he file his report now. However, the mistake provided a dream view of proceedings and a perfect chance to view the beloved Klinsmann up close. And he is a compelling figure, immaculately attired in a shirt the late CJH would surely have approved and the epitome of Germanic cool as this Dortmund stadium blazed with colour and passion.
And you have to admire his courage and vision in allowing his team to play, by Germanic standards, a radical game despite the pressure to advance as host nation. The towering figures of Christoph Metzelder and Per Mertesacker are the only true stay-at-home defenders. The wing backs, Philipp Lahm and Arne Freidrich, are coursing with the attackers instinct and, as against Costa Rica on the opening night, Lahm was dynamic.
In front of that back division, Michael Ballack swept and wandered forward, freeing the front two and the overlapping Freidrich with several sensationally accurate passes as the Germans attacked. Alongside the classy Ballack, the retro figure of Torsten Frings was all action and had actually engaged Klinsmann in his hair-band problem when Lukas Podolski advertised his worth with a dangerous swivel-and-strike on 35 minutes.
Podolski is diamond-edge sharp but the best chance of the first half fell to Miroslav Klose, who rose in the balmy evening to meet Lahm's cross but as thousands rose in acclaim, his header lacked the killer touch. Podolski was tantalisingly close again on the stroke of half-time, rolling a beautiful right-foot shot just wide off Artur Boruc but overall, the Polish defence was resolute.
Captain Jacek Bak was immense and, along with Bartosz Bosacki made several do-or-die interventions as Germany pressed on. Boruc also demonstrated why Pawel Janas favours him over Jerzy Dudek, getting down to repel Klose's snapshot on 65 minutes and a heroic stop on Neuville during a hectic last 10 minutes.
Klinsmann was going full-bloodedly for the victory at this stage, replacing Freidrich with the exciting young Borussia midfielder Odonkor, whose inclusion in the squad caused great surprise in Germany.
By the 70th minute, Odonkor's lightning pace wore down Polish resistance. But they were gallant here, the Poles. Ireneusz Jelen ran his heart out up front and was their most potent attacking option, drawing an inspired tackle from Mertesacker after the careless Bastian Schweinsteiger gave the ball away on 75 minutes.
From that point, Poland had to hold out with 10 men, Radoslaw Sobolewski given a second yellow for hacking Klose down. Calmly, the Germans pressed on and just as the magnificent home support were beginning to consign themselves to sharing the spoils, Neuville popped up to make it a perfect night after both Klose and Ballack had seen efforts come back off the bar.
SUBSTITUTES
GERMANY: Odonkor for Friedrich (64 mins), Borowski for Schweinsteiger (76 mins), Neuville for Podolski (71 mins). Subs not used: Jansen, Huth, Kehl, Nowotny, Kahn, Asamoah, Hitzlsperger, Hildebrand. Booked: Ballack, Odonkor, Metzelder.
POLAND: Dudka for Zewlakow (83 mins), Lewandowski for Krzynowek (77 mins), Brozek for Jelen (90 mins). Subs not used: Jop, Gancarczyk, Kosowski, Szymkowiak, Rasiak, Kuszczak, Mila, Giza, Fabianski. Booked: Krzynowek, Sobolewski, Boruc.
Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain)
