One last hurrah at Euro 2000 would have completed a fairy-tale

It’s the first time Matthaeus, who won his first cap in 1980, has left this competition at such an early stage.

Time and tide wait for no man and Matthaeus is no exception.

Fittingly Matthaeus had his best game of the three group matches. He was clearly struggling for pace against Romania, particularly in the second half when Gheorghe Hagi moved upfront to make a three-man attack.

His inclusion against England became a subject of National debate and Matthaeus even suggested to coach Erich Ribbeck that he step aside for the sake of squad unity. Ribbeck would have none of it and fielded the evergreen player who had a better game.

Germany, known for their Houdini escape acts under fierce pressure, looked again to Matthaeus for inspiration as they searched for the win against Portugal and then hoped Romania beat England.

Matthaeus was involved in Germany’s best chance against Portugal. In the 31st minute, Dietmar Hamann fed Matthaeus in a move where the ball eventually found Marco Bode surging into the area.

Bode’s low left foot shot beat stand-in keeper Pedro Espinha but the luck was not going Germany’s way and the ball crashed back off the right hand post. Inspite of the humiliation, Matthaeus was there to contain the danger on a number of occasions.

The 51,000-capacity De Kuip stadium, with of course a large German contingent, made a vocal showing of their displeasure which was a telling example that even legends cannot escape sporting lows.

It was a far cry from the adulation of skippering Germany to World Cup glory in 1990, scoring four goals on the way to earn FIFA’s World Player of the Year award.

At the 1998 World Cup and playing in his fifth finals, he set an appearance record of 22 matches when he came on as a substitute in their second match against Yugoslavia.

Matthaeus, who became a sweeper late in his career after being a commanding midfielder in his early days, was to reach 25 games by the time Germany fell to Croatia in the quarter-finals.

Among his array of titles include the Serie A with Inter Milan and the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich. Matthaeus ended his days with Bayern in March when he joined the New York/ New Jersey MetroStars.

One last hurrah for Matthaeus at Euro 2000 would have completed a fairy-tale for him. “This Euro will be my last major event,” he had said.