Mannschaft

With more goals than any other team in the tournament (barring the heavens opening and the Dutch scoring 7 goals against Spain in the World Cup final tonight) the German team leaves South Africa with a bronze medal around their necks and bright future ahead.

The 18 goals scored by the Germans included 8 vs traditional football superpowers Argentina and England. In those games the Germans' 'shock and awe' of taking an early lead and then running away with the game was just too much.

Tonight they came from behind to see a 3 - 2 win over Uruguay which saw 20 year old Thomas Mueller take another goal early - only to have the gritty Uruguayans put 2 past the Germans before the Mannschaft restored order and did what the Germans are notorious for doing - win.

What makes a team click? How do a group of individuals gel together and move forward - in any arena? The genius of the beautiful game comes down to a certain basic simplicity - a round ball happily booted between players - seeking to bury it in the opposing goal. The odd crackpot aside - most of the world (judging by the TV figures of at least a couple kabillion people) love the game. So how do talented individuals click together to form a cohesive whole?

The German football team showed some of it. For most of the World Cup 2010 tournament, die Mannschaft had it going for them: fluid passes - excellent midfield skills - poaching forwards who got service from their hard-working midfielders. They had that elusive 'nous' until the semi-final that is. Then the Germans came up against the Spaniards (who beat them 2 years ago in the European finals). Suddenly it was a different game - the men in red were everywhere, dipping in and out, the ball flowing as if glued to their feet - until another swift pass got it glued to the next Spaniard. Germany's team seemed almost bewitched - moving in slow motion - unable to click. Spain ran rings round the lads with the black shorts. Painful for a supporter - but so beautifully done you had to wonder why they managed only a single goal to move them forward.

What fascinated me about watching these games is seeing team work made visible. In our day-to-day work we do cooperate with our colleagues - but so often it seems that we are all alone - pushing forward in whatever we do. But on the green grass of a football field - with 90 minutes to play and thousands of brightly painted fans cheering around them - the teams have no where to hide. Everything, every play is seen (by the fans at least - even if the referee may miss it) and what emerges is a sum of individual parts. The team that finally gets the ball past the other side the most goes home the winner. And the team that does this most consistently is the champion. Yes there is the occasional game where the result is totally against the flow of the game - but that doesn't last. The world cup is always won by a team of exceptional players - who play together against their opponents - and not each other.

The young German football team leave South Africa for Deutschland with more than a bronze medal around their necks . Much has been made of their youth and multi-ethnic make up (a big shift from the Teutonic sides of old). Die Mannschaft look ominous for the future goal posts of the 2012 European Championship and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. I have followed Germany since reading the Times of India story of their loss to Italy in the 1982 finals (blame it on a mother born in Leipzig). My support for the men in white and black has, however, mostly been a cringing one as over the years the football team seemed more adept at booting other players than playing the beautiful game (the dreadful 1990 final match stands out to me). But this year something new has emerged. While Germany will never play like Brazil (in fact Brazil doesn't even play like Brazil) the matches of this year's world cup showed a new kind of fluency and spark that not only warmed this die-hard's heart - but won many new fans around the world. Its a new experience to hear people talk about Germany and hear more than grudging respect - some of the current assessments of die Mannschaft have bordered on the effusive!

What about our own teams? We have a small team of 2 in every marriage. We have slightly larger teams in our families. In our work and church and other expressions of community we see different levels of team-living. How often we implode because we just don't 'get along' with each other? How many times we could have seen so much more take place - but do not because we don't want to give up the space we occupy - the rights we so dearly cherish?

Since I am writing early on a Sunday morning it is not inappropriate to think of one of the greatest teams of all time - a rag-tag group of 12 who helped turn the world upside down (many would argue right-side up). On the last meal with their master and mentor - a silly (but familiar) argument cropped up amongst Jesus' disciples about who was going to be the greatest. If I were the Lord I would have booted out that lot at that point. Especially since the argument took place after Christ had stripped himself of his outer garments and dressed as a slave had washed each one of their feet. Our good Lord did not boot them - but chose to teach them instead - and prayed to Heavenly Father that 'they all would be one.' After Christ's resurrection and ascension this core group then multiplied rapidly, forming new groups in different places - all following the risen Lord. History shows that these followers of 'the Way' were often persecuted, but when chased from one area, they splintered into smaller groups and continued to tell others about Jesus, forming worshiping communities in whose long chain of replication we as a family live out our lives today. In a few hours from now we will meet in a home and sing, share and break bread together. In doing so we recreate and extend the original team that ate supper with Christ so many years ago.