Even today, German soccer remains so regimented that the only nickname ever
applied to the national team is still "Der Mannschaft," which translates as "The
Team." Each player has specific responsibilities to carry out, the theory being
that the whole will always be greater than the sum of the parts. Yet Ballack has
been given license to roam the entire pitch, to launch attacks or blunt them he
sees fit, to take risks none of his teammates would dare consider.
That freedom is part reward for his sublime skills and part recognition by
Klinsmann, a free spirit and former national team star himself, that it
represents Germany's best chance to win it all. But in a larger sense, Ballack's
leadership role, with its emphasis on individual creativity, has become a test
case on how a unified Germany might proceed.
When Klinsmann agreed to take over the team, he came under criticism for a
few things: living most of the year in sunny, laid-back California and scrapping
Germany's traditionally dull, overwhelmingly defensive 3-5-2 formation in favor
of an aggressive, wide-open 4-4-2 scheme.
Most of all, though, critics jumped on Klinsmann for raising a gloomy
nation's expectations. He declared a German team most felt was still four years
away ready to win the World Cup now. After three weeks of games and one nervy
win after another, with Ballack pulling most of the strings, the coach looks
like a genius. Those victories have loosened up his countrymen in a way the
organizers, politicians and even the shrewdest observers of German society
didn't see coming.
The national anthem has been sung with a collective voice few Germans ever
expected, much less experienced. Partying in the streets has reached a fever
pitch unseen since the wall came down. Carmakers and their unions, usually
obsessed and identified with productivity, gave more than 20,000 workers Tuesday
night off to watch the game. Patriotism, long dormant in a people still
wrestling with the sins of the past, has sprung up on countless balconies, where
black, red and gold flags flutter in the breeze.
"It's nice to see that we have a common dream," Klinsmann said the other day.
"I'm familiar with this from the United States. On Independence Day, July 4th,
everyone displays flags. It's a good thing."
But it's come with some personal cost, too. Ballack will
be transferring to Chelsea for the upcoming season, and while the negotiations
were going on, he was ripped for being selfish and lazy, two of the worst traits
to a German.
