Ahead of the first ever Champions League final between two German clubs — Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund — German ambassador Michael Steiner kicked off a football discussion, inviting youth clubs from Delhi, Indo-German football fans and some prominent football experts here on Friday.
Wim Koevermans, head coach of the Indian national team, Novy Kapadia, India’s leading football commentator, Vijay Lokapally of the Hindu, as well as Sandra Petersmann of ARD Radio, discussed questions such as “Is the long time Spanish dominance in football finally over?” or “Is India still only a cricket nation or is it looking for ‘new balls’?”
Passing the ball to the panelists, ambassador Steiner confessed: “l am Bavarian, born and raised in Munich. I have grown up with Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Gerd Mueller — marvellous players who once brought Bayern Munich to the top of Europe.
“Last year, Bayern lost the final at home in Munich to Chelsea after a penalty shootout... So for tomorrow my personal guess is a 2:1 for Bayern Munich in regular time.”
Holy cow ‘Geeta’ who had come from Faridabad to kick balls took over the part of ‘Paul the Octopus’ who had predicted most of the winning teams at the World Cup in South Africa 2010.
Geeta checked out the food boxes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, concentrated and predicted FC Bayern Munich as the winning team.
Geeta’s verdict looked very much like a 2:1.