As Ballack hobbled off the pitch during Saturday's FA Cup Final I suddenly felt a strange chill in my veins. It was the unmistakable icy thrill of pleasure tempered by an immediate rush of poisonous guilt, heightened by the knowledge thousands of other Aussies were feeling exactly the same way.
Turns out Ballack will probably be fine, but it won't be the last time we feel bad about feeling so good. For the next 25 days there are bound to be further opportunities for getting excited about possible weaknesses in our opponents, numerous times for minor celebrations as we hear of other teams injuries, arguments or scandals.
Appropriately, it was the Germans who gave us the glorious word 'schadenfreude' : literally meaning joy at someone else's damage.
It's truly the ugly side of being a football fan but don't feel guilty about it. After all, fans in 31 other countries are all indulging in exactly the same behaviour. You can almost smell the scent of blood as fans scrutinise the outcome of every friendly match (Germany wasn't impressive against Malta, despite the score line), cynically analyse the comments of coaches (truth or gamesmanship ?) and scroll through endless paragraphs of media for hints of team disunity.
The World Cup turns us all into sad little Hercule Poirots, sifting through 'clues' and gleefully sharing them with friends like we've just made some life-changing discovery. Some write lengthy and elegantly argued essays of the "Why We Are Unstoppable" variety, the more childish create cruel jokes about the opposition and email them ad nauseam.
In an attempt to avoid the madness, I've taken to reading the thoughts of other fans around the world on a comprehensive World Cup blog site.
http://www.worldcupblog.org/
Call me a nerd, but I find it incredibly interesting to see how other fans see their teams strengths and weaknesses. I've grown particularly attached to the Serbian blogs written by Nikola, whose views are balanced and knowledgeable.
His (her ? not sure about Serbian names) reaction to the World Cup draw showed an excellent knowledge of the Socceroos and a surprisingly cautious view about our strength as opponents. His comment that we were 'knocked out by a non-existent penalty' in 2006 was totally endearing.
Nikola's analysis of the squad selection this week was detailed and fascinating to those of us who know little about Serbian players. The inclusion of top striker Dragan Mrda for the first time has pleased fans as has young midfielder Nemanja Tomic, although like our own Tommy Oar, his youth may not weigh in his favour for the final cut.
Just like us, Serbian fans are debating who should and shouldn't have been selected. Strangely, as well as Mrda, the team features PSV Eindhoven defender Jagos Vukovic. All we need is a Bojic and they could all relocate to Bluetongue.
It reminds us that Serbians have given so much to Australian football and there will undoubtedly be Aussies of Serbian background who have a foot in both camps. Some Serbian Australians are already posting messages of support on Nikola's blogs :
"It is about time for our stars to come together in true Serbian spirit and show the world that we have more than individual brilliance," comments Paunovic from downunder.
Who knows? Maybe even Danny Vukovic himself had (in the immortal words of Billy Bragg) "an uncle who once played for Red Star Belgrade. He said some things are really best left unspoken, but I prefer it all to be out in the open."
Joel Griffiths evidently doesn't like to leave anything unspoken either. His outburst about Pim, following his non-selection for the WC squad, was extraordinarily honest and heartfelt. He pulled no punches, kept nothing back, his pain and anger were laid bare for all to see.
While many fans seemed to be outraged by his comments, I have to say I totally understand where he's coming from. Sure, his comments were OTT but he had a genuine point to make about the importance of the Socceroos coach supporting the A-League. I applaud his willingness to confront unpleasant issues, unpalatable as they may be to the delicate sensibilities of some football fans.
I also believe his current form would have been an asset to our squad, which is in dire need of options up front. When your team has only four strikers, one of whom is in a dodgy condition plus another who seems unsuited to the coach's system, surely the net needs to be cast a little wider.
What's so controversial about that ?
