The beautiful game Germany's history making opener a thing of beauty By ROB LONGLEY -- Toronto Sun Sat, June 10, 2006

MUNICH -- For even the most macho of German males, it was a decision which needed to be weighed.

What to watch?

Roaming the stands of Allianz Arena during yesterday's World Cup opener was supermodel Claudia Schiffer who, with the sun lighting her locks, was a thing of beauty.

On the field, though, there was something equally dear to the hearts of the host nation.

It came first in the prettiest goal you are likely to see in any sport, and later from a super striker who celebrated his 28th birthday by scoring twice.

In the end, the Germans had taken advantage of a badly outclassed opponent with a 4-2 double-Deutsching of Costa Rica.

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but the 64,950 (all save for a noisy red corner reserved for the Central American visitors) urging on the home side got enough of a glimpse.

Enough to ease a year's worth of worry that this team embarrassingly wasn't fit to be a contender. Enough to water down some flaming headlines earlier in the day.

And enough fireworks to make the game a real show, an exciting burst of scoring that produced the most opening-match goals in Cup history. There may not, after all, be another game that produces three goals in the opening 17 minutes like this one did.

Yes, the Germans added just enough offensive flair to go with their trademark defensive style, one bolted in place by efficiency rather than effervescence.

"You can talk about beautiful football," birthday boy and man of the match Miroslav Klose said.

"Truth be told, efficiency is the name of the game."

Stereotyping or not, it is the German way, one for which they felt no need to apologize, especially with captain Michael Ballack out of the lineup with a sore calf.

Still, coach Jurgen Klinsmann felt it was important to attack, especially against a weak defensive opponent.

"Sure, there was some tension, but it was the way we wanted to get things started," said the coach, who feverishly patrolled the sidelines throughout the match. "We wanted to give the crowd something to cheer about.

"We have seen an extraordinary game for the opening of a World Cup. It was spectacular."

Putting aside the sloppiness both teams showed in their own end, it sure had its moments, perhaps even an appealing tone set for the weeks ahead.

The main act picked up on a pre-game show that nicely set the mood. First it was past Cup champions honoured with Brazilian icon Pele and Germany's own Der Kaiser, Franz Beckenbauer, marching into the stadium as showstoppers.

Next came the entertainment, a powerful union of American singer Toni Braxton and the operatic Il Divo to get the crowd in the mood.

Then came the fireworks. To varying degrees, all six goals were worthy of the highlight loop, most notably Philipp Lahm's right-footed blast from outside the box.

After undressing slipping defender Danny Fonseca, Lahm fired a curling shot off the inside of the bar to open the scoring six minutes in.

A defensive brain cramp allowed Los Ticos' brilliant playmaker Paul Wanchope to equalize six minutes later with his first of two.

But then Klose took over.

He started with an easy finish of what appeared to be a whiffed shot by Bastien Schweinsteiger to allow the Germans to re-take the lead.

His second, in the 61st minute, came after Costa Rican keeper Jose Porras couldn't hang on to Klose's header, making the rebound another easy goal to convert.

"There's no way you can call that a perfect start," Lahm said. "It is clear we can't give up so many. But we made a lot of goals, that's important. You could see the euphoria in this stadium."

Perfect? No.

But in its own way, a beauty just the same.