Germans want to take World Cup feeling forward

Sports/Olympics / Soccer

 Germans want to take World Cup feeling forward
(csmonitor.com)
Updated: 2006-07-13 15:11

With the loud whistles and collective cheers of World Cup action already
fading, and the reality of fixing Germany's troubled economy once again
commanding headlines, many Germans share Eberhart Pluntke's desire to
bottle the past month's excitement and store it for later use.

Many Germans, long pegged as dour and pessimistic, let their brighter
colors shine during the World Cup. Here, a fan stands inside a fountain
full of foam before the July 4 Germany-Italy semifinal in Dortmund.

"The past four weeks have woken us out of our sleep," says Mr. Pluntke,
speaking over the clang of workers dismantling the metal barriers outside
Dortmund's Westfalen stadium, where Germany lost to Italy in a narrowly
contested semifinal last week. "I hope something will remain of this
time."

Germany's image abroad made immense gainsas foreign visitors braced for
uptight hosts and the specter of right-wing violence instead encountered
a country that took the World Cup's motto "a time to make friends" as
seriously as it took its soccer.

Among Germans, a new patriotism - unfettered by the weight of the past
and unfurled by countless flags adorning car and house windows - bloomed.

Fueling the excitement was the young German team, led by a dynamic coach
espousing American-style mantras of teamwork and positive thinking that
captivated a nation as they made an improbable run to the semifinals.

"This was the emancipation of a reunited Germany," says Alban Cajarville,
whose Berlin bar, Visite Ma Tente, became one of the city's most
atmospheric viewing spots as France advanced in the tournament. "The
entire emotion from this World Cup will help Germany in the future."

But the question confronting the country in the sobering days to come
will be how to harness that euphoria and use it to tackle the problems,
from unemployment to an unwieldy healthcare system, that have loomed over
this country in recent years.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, in an open letter congratulating German head
coach J��rgen Klinsmann and the team in Monday's issue of the mass-daily
Bild, signed off with the hope that "the atmosphere that we Germans
presented to the world will last long past this summer."

German President Horst K?hler said Mr. Klinsmann and his team "gave the
country courage."

To some, it recalled an earlier time, when soccer was needed to lift the
country out of a more serious rut. Germany's surprising 3-2 victory in
the 1954 World Cup over a team of superior Hungarians bore the country up
out of the ruins of World War II, giving it self-confidence and renewed
standing in the international community.The postvictory saying, "We are
somebody again!" became the country's rallying cry and helped Germany
build itself back up in the postwar years.

The situation is different this time around. Germany doesn't need to rise
- it needs to downsize. The social welfare system created during the
economic miracle is proving too costly for a reunited Germany and the
demands of the globalized economy.

International standardized tests reveal that the country's schools are
underperforming; the unskilled workforce is losing out to cheap labor
abroad; and Germany's standing as Europe's economic engine has been
fundamentally shaken.

But rather than inspire hope and tackle reform with the sort of vigor and
moxie Klinsmann exhibited in transforming a team of youngsters into World
Cup contenders, experts say Merkel's grand coalition has so far used the
tournament as a distraction to pass unpopular measures.

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