Germans give Jurgen a night to remember

Germany 3 - 1 Portugal Schweinsteiger, 56, 78 Petit 61og; Nuno Gomes 88

They say no one ever remembers the third-fourth play-off at the World Cup. Jurgen Klinsmann will never forget it and not just because his much changed Germany team found their best form in the second half to give Portugal a pasting. The manager who might not stay on, who will return to his California home before deciding on the next step in his career, was cheered all afternoon and all night inside and outside the ground. This is Klinsmann's patch. He played as a junior at nearby Geislingen and started his professional career in Stuttgart, first for Kickers, then for the city's bigger club, VfB, before moving on to greater things. He trained as a baker before becoming a full-time footballer and his family still run a bakery in Botnang, in Stuttgart's suburbs. It was party time long before kick-off, with an estimated 70,000 fans swarming into the city, many of them chanting: 'Klinsmann must stay!' Even the police joined in, with several officers sporting painted flags on their faces and many mo

Klinsmann has become far more than a local hero over the course of a tournament in which Germany exceeded expectations by reaching the last four. As another German sporting 'great', Michael Schumacher, looked on from the posh seats, it was fitting that the hosts should finish their tournament in such swaggering style.

Bastian Schweinsteiger, the young Bayern Munich midfielder, scored two stunning goals and celebrated the other one as though it was his, too. It was not - his free-kick was directed into his own net by defender Armando Petit - so unless something truly remarkable happens in tonight's final this will be the first World Cup to finish without a hat-trick.

Schweinsteiger's first goal was a spectacular swerving long shot in the 56th minute and his second, after the own goal, was even better. A minute after scoring it he went off to huge cheers as another Stuttgart man, VfB midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger, came on to take his place.

While most of the attention was focused on Klinsmann and Schweinsteiger, others will remember the night warmly. Oliver Kahn, who has sat by and watched as his great rival Jens Lehmann performed so outstandingly throughout the competition, was finally called into action. Kahn, 36, was given the captain's armband and he showed he had lost none of his sharpness by making three excellent saves, the best of them in the first half.

That proved crucial. Simao put Pauleta clear in the penalty area and he found himself in an almost identical position to that from which Alessandro Del Piero scored the second of Italy's goals in Tuesday's classic semi-final. Pauleta's finish lacked Del Piero's precision, but would still have been good enough if not for Kahn's reflexes.

It was the first of many disappointments for Pauleta who, not for the first time, looked out of his depth with the ball at his feet in the area. Who knows what 'Big Phil' Scolari's team might have done had they been able to call upon a better striker than the Paris Saint-Germain man, who was replaced in the 77th minute?

Scolari made three changes, the most significant of which was leaving Luis Figo on the bench - he came on late in the second half and provided the cross from which Nuno Gomes headed Portugal's late goal - but fielded a strong starting line-up.

Michael Ballack, who had a minor knee injury, was Germany's most notable absentee. His Chelsea clubmate Robert Huth was in line for his second World Cup appearance, but injured himself in the pre-match warm-up. The Leverkusen veteran Bernd Schneider took his place.

There were a couple of dodgy dives from the reviled Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo, neither of which fooled the referee, and the worst foul of the evening was a cynical off-the-ball trip by Costinha, for which he was booked. Portugal played well enough in the first half, but were swept aside in the second.

There was one bit of bad news for the Germans - if you take note of such things. Every winner of the third-place match since 1982 has been European, and every one of them has failed to qualify for the following European Championship. The roll of dishonour is Poland (82), France (86), Italy (90), Sweden (94), Croatia (98) and Turkey (02). If Klinsmann stays, surely Germany will end that sequence, and take their place in Austria/Switzerland 2008 as one of the favourites.

Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion 54,000

Germany Kahn; Nowotny, Metzelder, Lahm, Jansen; Schneider, Kehl, Frings·, Schweinsteiger · (Hitzlsperger 79); Klose (Neuville 65), Podolski (Hanke 71) Portugal Ricardo; Paulo Ferreira·, Ricardo Costa·, Meira, Nuno Valente (Nuno Gomes 69); Costinha· (Petit ht), Maniche; Ronaldo, Deco, Simao; Pauleta (Figo 77)

Match stats Attempts (on target) 11(4)/12(6) Corners 2/7 Fouls conceded 15/16 Game rating iiiiiiiiii Referee Toru Kamikawa (Japan)

Man of the match

Bastian Schweinsteiger His first was reminiscent of how Germany started the tournament, cutting in from the left as Philipp Lahm had against Costa Rica more than four weeks ago. Made the second and scored the third, giving a potentially pointless match the lift it needed.

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