France or Italy? It’s a tough call, Germans say

By Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) – With a World Cup final soon to kick off
in their own backyard, Germans are having a tough time deciding
whether to cheer for France or Italy.

Still mourning the heart-breaking loss of their own team in
the semi-finals, many locals seem more concerned with securing
third place in Saturday’s playoff against Portugal than backing
the French or Italians in Sunday’s decider in Berlin.

“The team will really be focused for Saturday. We really
want to beat the Portuguese,” Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann
said on Friday. “I don’t think any of the players will attend
the final and I myself will definitely not be going.”

When pressed to choose between the Zinedine Zidane-inspired
“Les Bleus” and Marcello Lippi’s “Azzurri,” Germans offer a
host of reasons to support either side without coming down hard
in favor of one team or the other.

Some say Italy must win because they beat Germany. It might
burnish the standing of Klinsmann’s young team if people knew
their only defeat came to the eventual world champions.

But others say the exact opposite — the team that ousted
their beloved home side must get its come-uppance.

“I am for France,” said Katharine Zenk, a 22-year old
Berlin student. “My only reason is that Germany lost to Italy.
If we had lost to France I would probably be for Italy.”

In a nation where almost everyone seems to have their
favorite local Italian restaurant, some have decided to back
Italy for purely culinary reasons — a number of trattorias
have promised to dish out free pizza if the Azzurri win.

Others are reluctant to see Italy win their fourth world
title because then they would have one more than Germany.

ITALIAN SYMPATHIES

Manfred Guellner, head of the Forsa polling group, said
many Germans might have Italian sympathies simply because there
are so many Italians in Germany.

In the 1950s, construction workers from Italy came north by
the tens of thousands to help power Germany’s post-war economic
miracle. Over half a million Italian nationals live in Germany
today, second only in numbers to the Turks.

But Guellner also pointed to the post-war friendship
Germany has forged with its western neighbor France — a bond
that has remained strong regardless of the governments in
power.

“I really think the loyalties are finely balanced,”
Guellner said. “Both teams have support here.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, keen not to alienate
either of her European allies, has declined to name a favorite.

“Both teams have played an excellent World Cup and raised
their level since the tournament began,” she was quoted as
saying in German newspaper Financial Times Deutschland (FTD).

“Both teams definitely deserve to be in the final —
although I’d prefer not to predict a winner.”

But Kurt Beck, the head of Germany’s center-left Social
Democrats who rule in coalition with Merkel’s conservatives,
was not shy about choosing a winner, even going so far as to
predict which player would score and how they would do it.

“My prediction is 1-0 for France over Italy,” said Beck,
who is also premier of Rhineland-Palatinate, a state which
borders on France and, like the French, loves its wine.

“Thierry Henry will score the goal from a set-piece
situation … and Zinedine Zidane will end his career with a
world championship,” Beck added.

(Additional reporting by Mike Atkins)