Haughty and hearty

On the street, the average German is exceedingly helpful, as though it is a moral duty to help others. On the tube, on trains, in buses, on the streets, an apparently helpless foreigner faced with German-only signs evokes sympathy and help. Maps are translated, directions explained; in one case, after walking for almost two miles with my laptop, I couldn’t walk the last few hundred yards to the station so I boarded a bus with one stop to go. The driver asked for the fare, then waved his hand and said it wasn’t needed. Maybe it was because I was typically taking forever to fish out the 2 euro but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Most exciting to most boring

• Watching Brazil labouring to a win was bad but it was better than the alternative: watching France totter on their zimmer frames to a point against Switzerland. The Guardian, displaying the British inability to knock the French, called it an “entente banale” and they got it about right. Given the talent on the pitch — Thierry Henry, Zidane, the exciting talent that is Ribery — it was telling that the man of the match was Claude Makalele, a holding midfielder. There were moments, there were passages of play but Henry displayed none of the form that makes him the most exciting player in the English Premiership and Ribery belied his growing reputation. And Zidane? Some of the fire was visible but maybe Raymond Domenech should do to him what Spain have done to their captain even as I write this: Bench him. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for Switzerland; the four-nation team has additional influences, from Kosovo, Macedonia, Turkey, and will be heartened by Tuesday’s result.

Talented underachievers

• A quick one before I sign off: Spain crushed Ukraine 4-0. I’m happy for Spain, because I really feel they have the talent to overcome their usual problem of underachieving. It’s my first sight of David Villa and he’s as nippy as they said. Also happy for Fernando Torres, who has remained loyal to Atletico Madrid despite several lucrative offers. Like Germany, this is a young team which may not be the finished article yet but once they get there, they should be fun to watch.

Keane moment

• Post script: A word of appreciation for the career of Roy Keane, one of the three pillars on which was built Manchester United’s domination of the 1990s (Schmeichel and Cantona being the others). Revered by United fans, feared by his clubmates, held in awe by opponents and despised by rival fans, Keane could play like a man possessed, and frequently did. Yet there was always a method in his madness, and that method was to get his team in front and keep it in front, and to always play to the limit. His shining moment was the away match to Juventus in 1999, the semi-final of the Champions League when, despite knowing he would miss the final after being booked, almost single-handed got his team to Barcelona. My personal favourite moment was just before an Arsenal match when he squared up with Patrick Vieira in the tunnel. We didn’t know it at the time but Vieira had just tried to wind up Gary Neville so Keano stepped in and said, effectively, Try me. It sounds cliched but they broke the mould with him.