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German World Cup relief as team hits form |
With under a week to go till their side takes on Costa Rica in the World Cup opener, German football fans have something to cheer about following the 3-0 romp over Colombia in a World Cup warm-up. The hosts under-fire coach Jurgen Klinsmann was understandably upbeat after goals from Michael Ballack, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Tim Borowski had brought a smile back to fans' faces just a few days after the worrying 2-2 draw against Japan. "I was delighted that the team got some confidence before the tournament," Klinsmann said. "It was good to finish with a win and we are now very hungry for the opening game against Costa Rica. "The fans, the players and myself all just want the tournament to start." The German victory came in one of seven games Friday night that involved World Cup qualifiers. The gloom over the Italian camp remained in place even though manager Marcello Lippi praised his team after a morale-boosting performance in their final warm-up before the World Cup finals ended in a 0-0 draw with Ukraine. "When the team is strong like that, that's fine. I'm satisfied with everything," coach Lippi said afterwards, even though his side failed to score against Ukraine, who will play in their first World Cup later this month. "I think our players showed a good frame of mind this evening," he added, praising their "serenity" and "enthusiasm". In other games Sweden were held to a 1-1 draw at home by non-qualifiers Chile while African hopefuls enjoyed differing fortunes with Togo defeating Liechtenstein 1-0, Angola going down 3-2 to Turkey and Tunisia drawing 1-1 with Uruguay. Australia meanwhile welcomed back Liverpool's Harry Kewell and he repaid coach Guss Hiddink with two goals and two assists as the Socceroos defeated Dutch amateurs VV Kloetinge 8-1. There was another big night of friendlies ahead on Saturday notably with England playing their final warm-up against Jamaica at Old Trafford, Spain taking on Egypt at Elche, Switzerland going up against China in Zurich and Asian champions Japan testing out against Lithuania. England skipper David Beckham said he believed his dead-ball skills could prove to be his country's key to World Cup success. Beckham demonstrated once again his special talent at dead ball situations during Tuesday's 3-1 win over Hungary when his pinpoint free-kicks set up the opening two goals for Steven Gerrard and John Terry. And he is confident of doing the same in Germany. "One of the biggest parts of my game is set-pieces and crosses and, if I get the chance like the other night against Hungary, then I will put in crosses so people can score from them," the Real Madrid player said. "It might be Joe Cole on another night from the opposite flank or maybe Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard who score with shots. If that's the case, then great. Off the field, German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble said that while he did not believe World Cup teams will be targeted by terrorists he was more concerned by the possibility of an attack on crowds of fans. Schauble said security officials consider that a repeat of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre -- when 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian militants -- was unlikely at the June 9-July 9 extravaganza. "I don't believe that there will be any kind of situation such as 1972, an attack on a team, or athletes being taken hostage," Schauble said in Saturday's edition of the Süddeutsche Zeitung daily. But Schauble said authorities were more concerned at ensuring security for the large gatherings of supporters who will watch World Cup matches on huge screens erected in public places across the country. "This time, the World Cup is everywhere because we are going to have giant screens set up where people are going to gather. If there are going to be attacks, they are not going to be against the teams or players but against these gatherings," the minister added. _____________________________________________________________________________ www.tickets4wc2006.com - Cheap tickets for World Cup 2006 _____________________________________________________________________________
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