This was the last play in Sunday’s World Cup final: Bastian Schweisteiger jumped high up, headed the ball out of danger, and got knocked down by an Argentina player. The referee called a foul and free kick for Germany first. Basti mumbled something in his mouth, Toni Kroos hugged his vice captain’s head, seemingly telling him “We got the free kick, I think this is it…” Then, the referee blew the final whistle. Kroos and Lahm dropped to their knees; Thomas Müller fist pumped; Schweini? He was like a battered warrior at the end of a war, struggled to get up and relish the victory.
 |
| At the final whistle of the WC final |
It was a war for him: minutes before the final started, Schweinsteiger learned that his midfield partner Sami Khedira was injured in the warm-up. Not too long into the game, Khedira’s replacement, Christoph Kramer, had to be subbed off due to a concussion. With his comrades down and out, Basti had to not only take care of the best player in the world but also command the entire defensive midfield for Germany in front of the back four (we all know Özil or Kroos can’t track players well). Like all great leaders do, he stepped up and lived up to the message inscribed on his boots – “The Chosen One”. He tirelessly ran up and down the field (15.3km in total), dictated the pitch box-to-box with 90% passing completion, and hustled his teammates when everyone’s physical condition was stretched to the limit. He was knocked down time after time, his knees hyper-extended/sprained, his legs cramped. About 10 minutes before it all ended when there was still no winner in this match, Sergio Agüero clawed his face and cut under his right eye open. Blood streaking down his face, he did not waste time complaining – he knew they wouldn’t allow him to continue playing with an open wound – he needed a quick fix because his team couldn’t afford playing with one-man short for too long at this critical stage of the match. Coach Jogi Löw had Kevin Großkreutz ready on the sideline, but there was no way Schweinsteiger was going to let anyone take over for him at this pinnacle moment of his career – he had been this close many times so he knew how it hurt without finishing, he would for sure be one of the penalty takers if the match went there, he knew his body wasn’t going to get any younger – it was now or never for him. The medical staff stitched up his face and #7 stood up again, howling to get back into the match. That was the 111th minutes of the World Cup final, 77 seconds later, Mario Götze put the ball into the back of Argentina’s net with a sublime finish, and history was written.
While the world saw the childish smile from the 22-year-old who lifted an entire nation, it was the tears in Schweini’s (and Lahm’s and Klose’s) eyes that brought them here. Started his career as an attacking midfielder, Schweinsteiger was seen as a flashy player not down to earth. It took a genius coach, Luis van Gaal, to see more in this young kid and developed him into a holding midfielder. The party boy image was long gone, and a true leader was born. Nevertheless, his career path was not easy. On the international stage, he was close but had no trophy to show in 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012 – he took those defeats harder each time. What got even worse was in 2012, when he missed that final penalty in front of his own 70,000 Bayern München fans at Allianz Arena and handed the Champions League final to Chelsea – 3 runner-ups in one season… Many would never come back from that low again, but not Bastian Schweinsteiger. He may not be the most skillful player, he may not have the slickest movement, or the fastest pace; but he has the strongest willpower – a true German virtue that always makes them winners. He and Bayern completed the incredible treble in 2013. The 2013-14 season was not a smooth sailing for him, just when he needed it to prepare for the World Cup. Multiple ankle injuries, knee problems at the end of the season and close to the tournament, many pundits deemed that he had passed his prime and should be a peripheral figure on this Die Nationalmannschaft. Jogi Löw sacrificed his vice captain on the bench to start the tournament – one thing was to give him more time to recover from those injuries, the other was to have a chance to test out a new system without relenting his team’s harmony (which he desperately needed to have any chance to go far in this tournament) because he knew Schweinsteiger would not make a fuss about the benching. As expected, Schweini did not say a word about it, and partied with the lads after the 4-0 thump of Portugal. However, when the team was in a chaotic moment trailing Ghana 1-2 in the second half of the second game, he (and Klose) came on as a saviour – he only needed 15 minutes to prove that this was still his team. On Sunday, he fought with his heart and soul in a game of his life. The rest was history.
 |
| Inscribed on Schweinsteiger's boots in the WC final: "the chosen one" |
 |
| Too much emotion in this picture... Those 3 knew what it took to get here |
While the world saw the childish smile from the 22-year-old who lifted an entire nation, it was the tears in Schweini’s (and Lahm’s and Klose’s) eyes that brought them here. Started his career as an attacking midfielder, Schweinsteiger was seen as a flashy player not down to earth. It took a genius coach, Luis van Gaal, to see more in this young kid and developed him into a holding midfielder. The party boy image was long gone, and a true leader was born. Nevertheless, his career path was not easy. On the international stage, he was close but had no trophy to show in 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012 – he took those defeats harder each time. What got even worse was in 2012, when he missed that final penalty in front of his own 70,000 Bayern München fans at Allianz Arena and handed the Champions League final to Chelsea – 3 runner-ups in one season… Many would never come back from that low again, but not Bastian Schweinsteiger. He may not be the most skillful player, he may not have the slickest movement, or the fastest pace; but he has the strongest willpower – a true German virtue that always makes them winners. He and Bayern completed the incredible treble in 2013. The 2013-14 season was not a smooth sailing for him, just when he needed it to prepare for the World Cup. Multiple ankle injuries, knee problems at the end of the season and close to the tournament, many pundits deemed that he had passed his prime and should be a peripheral figure on this Die Nationalmannschaft. Jogi Löw sacrificed his vice captain on the bench to start the tournament – one thing was to give him more time to recover from those injuries, the other was to have a chance to test out a new system without relenting his team’s harmony (which he desperately needed to have any chance to go far in this tournament) because he knew Schweinsteiger would not make a fuss about the benching. As expected, Schweini did not say a word about it, and partied with the lads after the 4-0 thump of Portugal. However, when the team was in a chaotic moment trailing Ghana 1-2 in the second half of the second game, he (and Klose) came on as a saviour – he only needed 15 minutes to prove that this was still his team. On Sunday, he fought with his heart and soul in a game of his life. The rest was history.
After standing up from that final knock on the final whistle, Basti let all his emotions out. Why not?! He had given his all, there was nothing left to play. He was leading his team up the stairs to raise the World Cup. He is Weltmeister.
He is the Fußballgott.
No comments:
Post a Comment