Northern Ireland v Germany

NORMAL SERVICE WILL BE RESUMED SOON Way back in the early days of television the BBC used to have technical problems, lots of them. Frequently popular programmes were interrupted when gremlins got into the machines.

When this happened a most unwelcome notice would appear on the screen declaring that ‘normal service will be resumed as soon as possible’. That notice strikes me as a good way of summing up the rise and rise of the German football team. Yes, there may be problems along the way. Occasionally the German teammay suffer an unexpected defeat or may fail to fulfil the expectations of their fans in a big tournament, but these are blips, minor temporary deviations from a general trend. That trend is for more success and more glory. On the field of play the opposition may score and look set to spoil the advance of the mighty German project. But then normal service is resumed as the class, skill, pace and sheer determination of the men in white jerseys overcome the setback to win the game. Northern Ireland fans have known this to their cost on many occasions. We have made the great footballing nation sweat more than once, as we pulled feathers from the eagle’s tail. But (with only two exceptions) when the dust settled and the final whistle sounded, the eagle was soaring as high as ever. I am old enough to have been at Windsor for the German team’s first visit to Belfast back in 1960. Early in the second half Billy McAdams gave us a 2-1 lead, but it took only two minutes for Uwe Seeler to equalise and the visitors went on to win 4-3 (will we have a seven-goal thriller tonight?). In more recent times no fewer than four Northern Ireland players knowwhat it is like to give the lads in green and white a one goal lead against Germany. The list is a distinguished one consisting of Michael Hughes (who did it twice), George O’Boyle, Gerry Taggart and David Healy. But normal service was resumed as soon as possible and not one of those lads ended up on the winning side. My German friend Gunther will be joining me at the national stadium for tonight’s match. You might spot us sitting together in the stands.

Both of us will be wearing green jerseys. But look closer. My shirt is a Norn Iron vintage jersey in the style worn the night we sank David Beckham’s England in 2005. Gunther’s may be green, but it is a green German change strip bearing the black eagle crest of the Deutscher Fussball-Bund, a badge feared and respected throughout the footballing world. One of Gunther’s favourite football quotations is from Gary Lineker, who once quipped that football is a game in which 22 players chase a ball around a field and then the Germans win! Mind you, my friend from Essen is quick to spot a blip in the progress of his heroes. Before last summer’s World Cup in Russia I telephoned Gunther and asked him if Joachim Low’s teamwould retain the trophy they had won in such style four years earlier. Gunther’s voice sounded grave as he told me that the German team had no hope against the strong teams in their group. Gunther was right. They did beat Sweden but lost to both Mexico and South Korea and flew home early. So what about tonight’s game? Are Joachim Low’s lads suffering from gremlins again? The signs are that normal service has resumed, although I am penning this before knowing the result of last Friday’s match between Germany and the Netherlands. Last March in Amsterdam they lost a 2-0 lead when the Dutch drew level but Nico Schulz grabbed a winner in the last minute, a typical German achievement. Recently one newspaper quoted Michael O’Neill urging his team to capture a really big scalp. They do not come bigger than the teamwith the black eagle

badge. Come on the gremlins! Words Cunningham Peacock

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