Why I will be supporting Germany

Will the Germans win a fourth FIFA World Cup?

If we were not living in a racist world, my sentimental favourites may, perhaps, be Argentina like it is for many young boys in Ghana who are supporting the nimble-footed magic dribbler, Leo Messi. But we live in a racist world. That is why I will be rooting for the Teutonic tanks this evening. I can identify more with the German team than with the Argentinian one on a racial basis. It is true that it took a long time for a black person to feature in the German national team. But, today, Jerome Boateng, as black as I am and with DNA that can be traced to similar sources as mine, is a fully-fledged member of the German team in the first eleven for all the six games played so far. And, barring injury, he will be a given in the starting line-up for today's game. Who would have imagined this in Hitler's Germany? Who would have even thought of this barely 20 years ago? Show me a single black person who has ever played in the Argentinian team and I may change my mind. Germany may have had a Nazi past but many of the die-hard Nazi culprits fled to Argentina after the war to escape justice. Why is it that there are many black players in the Brazilian team but not in the Argentine side? Brazil shares a small border to its south with Argentina.

It is not only Boateng who represents Africa in the German team. Sami Khedira was born in Stuttgart to a German mother and a Tunisian father. He is also a given in the German eleven.

If die Mannschaft wins today, it will be only the second time that someone with true Ghanaian blood would have won the FIFA World Cup. The first time was in 1998 when a multi-cultural French team, featuring a hard playing Ghanaian-born Marcel Desailly, won the trophy and gave Les Bleus their first, and only, victory. That time also, I was supporting Les Bleus against Selecao.

The Germans have done more for Ghanaian football over the years than Argentina ever did. Germany gave the world both adidas and Puma - two of the topmost sportswear companies in the world. Ghana has also had German coaches over the years. Germany may not have had a Pelé or a Maradona or even a Messi. But they have given the world some great players who, as kids in Ghana, we had identified with. Who, in my generation, will ever forget Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, or Karl-Heinz Rummenigge? As on old Hearts supporter, I remember when in the 70s the team invited Guenter Netzer, considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time and a bit part player in the World Cup winning German side of 1974, to come and train with the Accra based club and show them a few tricks. Unfortunately, the not so tall midfielder got ill on arrival at the Kotoka airport and went back without kicking a ball in Ghana. What a disappointment for the hordes of Phobia fans at the airport to welcome him! Oh, you can be sure. Kotoko fans had a good laugh.

The Germans have contributed to Ghanaian soccer in other ways too. German born Tony Baffoe was, perhaps, the first foreign born Ghanaian to play for the Black Stars. Any time Tony donned the Black Stars jersey, he played as if his very life depended on the outcome of the game. Kevin-Prince Boateng was only following the footsteps of Tony Baffoe. The German league has also harboured many Ghanaian players and gave them the time away from their clubs to play for their homeland. The list is long: Anthony Yeboah, Samuel Kuffuor, Isaac Vorsah and others. It is a bit strange that this year's Black Stars World Cup squad had only one player from the Bundesliga - the hot-headed Kevin-Prince Boateng of Schalke 04.

Well, I do not live in Germany but I live in Europe. I don't see why I should support a South American team against a European one. Where is my loyalty to the place that has given me an abode?

There are also some purely sporting reasons why I will be supporting the Germans. I think the team is a more complete outfit than the Argentinian side. The Germans have no outstanding star whom the rest of the team depend on to change the tide of a bad game. They had a better run of the group matches and the knock-out games against tougher opposition than the Argentines did. How can a team trash Selecao 7-1 in a crucial semi-final tie, before their weeping fans watching the game in their own backyard, and not go on to win the ultimate game? Even the footballing gods understand this. Neymar said he would be supporting Argentina because of his friend and club mate Messi. But that boy has been coached by his PR team to say the right things. Many Brazilians will be happy to see their arch-rivals lose. And I will be with them in that wish.

Germany's arguably toughest game en route to the finals was actually against an African side - Algeria whom they beat narrowly in extra time in a round of 16 game. If the Germans win the final in regulation time I, as a Ghanaian, can boast that Germany won the trophy by beating every other team except Ghana against which they struggled to get a draw. Well, that's something to comfort me, even though, like other Ghanaians, I am still angry at the attitude of our boys at this year's tournament.

In my heart of hearts, I had really wanted the Dutch to take it this time because they've been in the finals thrice (the unforgettable finals of 1974 and 1978 and the rather poor one of 2010) without ever winning it. They also have many blacks in their side as well as one on the technical staff (Kluivert). I was hoping for a Dutch-German final where I would be shouting for the Dutch. But since Oranje failed to make it to the final, I will be hollering for die Mannschaft all the way as they send Le Albiceleste back to their cows. Aren't they Los Gauchos?

Kofi Amenyo ([email protected])