• Watching the German team on Saturday — through the forest of excited, animated Germans — confirmed the belief that this side is a strong contender for the next World Cup (and the next Euro, in neighbouring Austria and Switzerland. Just when all eyes were focussed on Lukas Podolski - confirmed as the World Cup’s best young player — and his partner in crime Miroslav Klose, up stepped Bastian Schweinsteiger to deliver two cracking volleys that gave Ricardo no chance. They were playing without Michael Ballack but their rhythm was unbroken. As mentioned, Oli Kahn has retired and Lehmann may not last till South Africa four years hence but the core of this team has time on its side.

The key question is, of course, the coach: Will Juergen Klinsmann heed the public pleas and stay on? The tabloid Bild ran a story offering a look inside Klinsi’s heart and head; the heart won but only just. The main opposition to Klinsmann is likely to come from within the DFB, the hierarchical, hidebound national association, which, despite the success, is wary of the coach’s fiercely independent style and radical approaches to the game. Klinsmann has fought every inch of the way to get his team so far but the battle may have wearied him. His high-profile critics, include the other national icon Lothar Matthaus (one of the four “honourary coaches” of the national team, by dint of having lifted the World Cup in 1990) and the latter may be eyeing the national job though his own coaching experience is limited.

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