For One Game, West Germans Become Sons of Italy : World Cup: Locals’ bitterness over loss to Argentina makes an easy choice for allegiance in title game.
Now that the host team is no longer a World Cup championship contender, which became glaringly evident even to non-soccer fans when the tricolor flags came down from apartment balconies throughout the country, Italians seem to have turned their attention from Maradona to Madonna.
With the U.S. rock star appearing in concerts next week in Rome and Turin, her picture has replaced that of Italy’s goal-scoring phenomenon, Salvatore Schillaci, on the front pages of newspapers. When her name is mentioned to fans here, they often respond, “You know she’s Italian.” Well, part-Italian.
Italians take care of their own, which is one reason West Germany is likely to be the crowd’s favorite in Sunday’s championship game against Argentina at the Olympic Stadium.
None of the West Germans is even part-Italian, but half of their 10 starters in the field play in the Italian League. Close enough.
“And now, for one evening, the hearts of Italian fans will be for Germany,” a West German newspaper, Frankfurter Rundschau, commented after the semifinal victory Wednesday over England.
Specifically, those hearts will be with forwards Rudi Voeller (AC Roma) and Juergen Klinsmann (Inter-Milan), midfielder Lothar Matthaeus (Inter-Milan) and defenders Andreas Brehme (Inter-Milan) and Thomas Berthold (AC Roma). Another starting midfielder, Thomas Hassler, has signed a contract to play next season with Juventus of Turin.
The Italian League’s most celebrated foreigner--each team may have three--is Argentina’s Diego Maradona, who plays for this season’s champion, Naples.
But he no doubt will hear more jeers than cheers Sunday. Not particularly popular north of Naples even before the World Cup because of the country’s regional rivalries, he became even less so because of his role in Argentina’s semifinal victory that exiled Italy to today’s consolation game in Bari against England.
Even in Naples, several youths were arrested after the game Tuesday night for throwing rocks at the windows of Maradona’s home.
There also has been an ample amount of criticism thrown in Maradona’s direction because he has not been the player he was in leading Argentina to the 1986 championship in Mexico.
There has been no dominant player this year. If Argentina wins the championship, however, Maradona might again be the most valuable player. His achievement actually might be greater than it was four years ago because of his inspirational role on a team that is considered inferior to the one in Mexico.
But if West Germany wins--as it is favored to do--Matthaeus who might be remembered as the tournament’s most influential player.
As a young player, not even he would have figured that to be his destiny. Although he was talented, he was not named to national junior teams because of the numerous yellow cards he received for arguing with referees.
His rebelliousness also caused problems for him off the field. When he finally earned a berth on the national team, he was sent home once from the training center for missing curfew. His driver’s license was suspended for eight months for driving under the influence.
But with age--he is 29--has come maturity. Married to a nursery school nurse, he is the father of two young daughters. If he ever has to work outside of soccer, he can use the training he received in interior decorating because his parents insisted he learn a trade.
That probably will not be necessary because of his lucrative contract with Inter-Milan.
West Germany’s coach, Franz Beckenbauer, also credits the team for transforming Matthaeus into a richer soccer player. He has spent two years in the Italian League, which Beckenbauer said is more demanding than any other, including West Germany’s Bundesliga.
“With Lothar playing the way he is now, there is nothing we cannot achieve,” Beckenbauer told an Italian reporter before the World Cup.
“His two years in Italy have done him nothing but good. Since coming to Inter, he’s matured from a hustling role player into an onfield leader.”
In soccer terms, he is known as a schemer. Sports fans in the United States would call him a field general. He is not a playmaking midfielder but still manages to direct the flow of the attack toward the West Germans’ strengths.
He also has an outstanding shot, particularly from outside the penalty area. He has four goals in the tournament, more than either of the dangerous strikers, Voeller and Klinsmann.
Voeller might have scored more if not for circumstances. He played only a little more than 20 minutes in the second round against the Netherlands before he was expelled with a red card, which also disqualified him from the quarterfinal game against Czechoslovakia.
Half an hour into the semifinal match against England, he suffered a calf injury. But he is expected to play against Argentina.
Matthaeus and Voeller have little patience with each other, which has led to confrontations during workouts.
“It’s possible they don’t like each other,” Beckenbauer said.
But he also said that it is Matthaeus’ role to supply “voltage” to the other players when he believes they are not concentrating. That became his responsibility when Beckenbauer named him captain.
“In my modest opinion, Lothar is one of the top three players in the world,” Beckenbauer said. “When he starts upfield with the ball, the only thing that can stop him is a machine gun. We gave Inter a very solid player. And Inter has made him into a champion.”
He no doubt hopes that Juventus will do the same for Hassler, who, at 24, represents the future of the German midfield. He has been injured for much of this tournament, but he has showed flashes of his brilliance and is likely to be among the starting 11 players against Argentina.
Hassler has the energy of his father, whose nickname while playing for a Berlin amateur team was “Nurmi” because he could run all day.
But Hassler also is an artist with the ball who could end for all time the stereotype of the disciplined, durable and efficient but unimaginative German player.
Actually, that stereotype should never have survived Beckenbauer, who virtually created a new position as the sweeper for the most recent West German championship team in 1974.
