Germany no country for old men

AS THE knock-out stage of World Cup 2006 fast approaches, some of the game’s heavyweights are already on the ropes, hoping the bell will give them a reprieve.

One of the lessons of the first round seems to be that, for this month at least, Germany is no country for old men. After Ronaldo’s only marginally improved performance for Brazil against Australia, Zinedine Zidane saw his second outing for France end in the acrimony and disappointment of a 1-1 draw with South Korea, the petulant push which earned him a yellow card ruling the great man out of France’s final group game against Togo.

Two former world players of the year, representing the countries which won the last two World Cups, the apparently terminal decline of Big Ron and Zizou has not been pleasant to watch. Although both may yet get the opportunity to make amends, you wouldn’t want to be betting your last euro on it.