The Set: Germany 3-2 Turkey

1. Nice Goal Philip. But guess what? At least one person here won’t soon forget the most dire performance by any individual at this tournament to date. Many will give you MOM for scoring a goal. But they will forget the 90 minutes of dire defending. You were responsible for both goals. And had Richards not hit the post early, you would have had a 3rd on your hands. You were crap, and the only reason people aren't giving you more grief is because Jansen was worse. You made Kazim Kazim Richards look like Cristiano Ronaldo, and even Championship defenders couldn’t do that. You’ve now been roasted by Prajnic, Garics and Kazim: which is as bad as it sounds. And you will cost Germany the title against Russia or Spain, who won’t be using wallbangers as substitutes.

   
   

2. There was a lot of talk about how Ballack would hoist this team on his shoulders. He must have dyed his hair white, because since he returned, Bastian Schweinsteiger has been dragging this team, kicking and screaming, to the final. Ballack gets the plaudits, but the pig does all the work

   
   

3. It's time for another rendition of my “Rene Adler is better than Superman" rant. Lehmann finally showed his true colors, especially in the first half with poor punches, being nutmegged on a slow dribble and being incapable of deciding to move off his line. He got away with it today.....but hey, why is he still alive? He made a promies.

   
   

4. Most underrated player in this tournament: Hamit Altintop. Playing out of position, he has defended well and been the catalyst for most of Turkey's attacking play.

   
   

5. Tactics 101: When you have all your subs and your opposition only has 3 and they still sub more than you, you’re doing something incredibly wrong. Players like Heiko Westermann, Kevin Kuranyi and Piotr Trochowski are filler with good seats. And they shouldn't be.

   
   

6. I was explaining the blackouts, the lost goals, and the subsequent return of the picture for the final goal to my wife, an uber-liberal German girl. Later I said it was amazing to see the Germans do that so late. She responded with or “Not See Germany, in your case”. Think about how thats sounds and you will see why I laughed so hard at the comment.

   
   

7. MOM: The hell with that! The Golden Ball should go to every player on that Turkish squad. They were fantastic. We thank you and we will sure as hell miss you.