Standardized commentary form for Germany's WC matches              

From:    Marco Paserman                                        
Date:      1998/06/29
Subject: Standardized commentary form for Germany's WC matches 

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Instead of repeating the same match report over and over again,
every two or every four years, I though it would be a good idea
to prepare a standardized form to describe Germany's WC games.
This form can come in quite handy, starting from next week, and
of course it can be used in future World Cups/ European Championships/
qualifiers as well.

Just fill in the spaces with the appropriate names:

[R] Germany - ______________________      _____   - _____
             (insert opponent's name)    (1/2/3)   (any number smaller
                                                 than the number on
                                                 the left)

Germany once again qualifies for the next round with a come from

behind victory, that some will call lucky. Hats off to the brave

_______________ans, who fought hard, gave the Germans a scare,
(opponent's name)

but in the end fell to the more experienced and determined German side.

The match started off at a rather slow pace. Germany as always

looked solid in midfield and well organized, but the German

defense looked a bit slow and vulnerable. Indeed, the speedy

______________an forward, __________  had a very lively start,
(opponent's name)         (name)

and __________, the German full-back, had to resort to frequent
      (name)
fouls to stop him. He was lucky not to receive a yellow card

________________. The other German defender, ________________
(earlier/at all)                                 (name)

was also guilty of a particularly nasty tackle, but the lenient

referee showed only a yellow card, when a red card would not have been

out of place. The German goalkeeper, ______________, nearly
                                        (name)

pulled of a Schumacher on a rather dangerous exit off his posts,

and gave _______________, the valiant _________________an striker,
             (name)                     (opponent's name)

a nasty look. No wonder people dislike Germany.

Early in the second half, ______________  scored, with a brilliant
                         (opponent's name)

piece of finishing by  ______________, which made the German
                           (name)

defenders look like statues. At this point, _______________ took
                                            (opponent's name)

control of the game, while Germany seemed incapable of any reaction.

______________   should have delivered the decisive knock-out blow,
(striker's name)

but he  _______________________________________________________________.
    (hit the post/ hit the crossbar/ weakly shot into the goalie's hands,
     was denied a clear penalty/ missed incredibly from close range/
     all of the above)

Germany started to create some chances, but they would probably have been

doomed if not for a _____________________________________________________
                    (lucky bounce/ deflected shot/ defender's mistake)

which gave them the opportunity to _____________________________________.
                                    (equalize / pull one back)

The goal was like an injection of fresh blood for Germany, who now

began to dominate, until finally _____________________ managed
                                      (name)

to score a beautiful goal with a powerful ______________________
                                          (volley/header/ blast)

in the dying minutes, which gave Germany ________________________________.
                                         (the victory/the chance to go to
                                          penalties where the Germans made no
                                          mistakes)

Germany deserves praise for its unrelentless efforts, its indomitable

spirit and its legendary ability to fight back; but they will need

more than this to beat _______________________________  in the next
                       (Argentina/Italy/France/England(*))
round.

Daniele

(*) Germany never plays Brazil in the World Cup according to FIFA
    directive No. 107

P.S.: This was meant with no offense to Germany and German fans. Rather,
a mixture of admiration and envy.