Hundreds of thousands of Germans waving flags of black, red and gold gathered at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on Sunday to pay tribute to their World Cup team, who clinched third place with victory over Portugal. Two long-range efforts from Bastian Schweinsteiger ensured hosts Germany overcame Portugal to claim third place. Germany took the lead when midfielder Schweinsteiger cut in from the left and drilled in a swerving shot. The Germans went two up when the lively Schweinsteiger's free-kick was sliced into his own net by Armando Petit. Schweinsteiger sealed the victory with another rasping shot from 25 yards and Nuno Gomes headed Portugal a late consolation after a Luis Figo cross. This was Germany's third World Cup bronze medal. They have collected more than any other nation. Brazil, France and Poland finished third twice. Schweinsteiger became the 15th player to score twice in a single match at the tournament. Petit's own goal was the fourth at the 2006 World Cup. The 1954, 1974 and 1998 World Cups also witnessed four own goals. Germany used 22 players. Only goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand did not feature. Argentina and Spain also used 22 players during the 2006 finals. Costinha's yellow card was his fourth of the tournament, tying him with Ghana's Asamoah Gyan for most cautions received at the 2006 World Cup. The only other player ever to receive four yellow cards at a single World Cup was Bulgarian Zlatko Jankov in 1994. Portugal amassed a total of 24 yellow cards during the finals, breaking the record (23) that was held by Bulgaria since 1994. Fans held placards saying "You are the world champions of our hearts" and "We're proud of you" as the players waved to the crowd under blue skies and bright sunshine. Coach Juergen Klinsmann's young team triggered a wave of enthusiasm across the host nation with attacking football and an unexpectedly strong showing in the competition. The latest opinion poll by the Promit research institute in Dortmund shows 95 per cent of the public want him to stay. "We've experienced a party four weeks long like there's never been in Germany," Klinsmann told the crowd at Berlin's Fan Mile, a pedestrian zone created for fans to party and watch matches on big screens throughout the World Cup. "You're unbelievable!" The German players sported T-shirts with the slogan "Danke Deutschland" in the national colours of black, red and gold and the words "Team Spirit" printed on the back along with the number "82 million" -- the population of Germany. "Many, many thanks, you're the greatest!" captain Michael Ballack told the crowd to loud cheers. Organisers said at least 500,000 people had turned out to thank the German team. Klinsmann, the target of heavy criticism before the World Cup, is now under strong pressure to remain in his job. Klinsmann has done more than merely silence his critics after coaching Germany to a surprising third place finish at the World Cup. He has turned those who criticised his methods and wanted him to quit just four months ago into ardent supporters who are now begging him to stay on with the national team. Unless he decides to renew his contract and lead the team into their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign there will be doubts about whether the three- times world and European champions are really back as a force. The general verdict before the tournament was that Germany had one world class player in Michael Ballack, two good goalkeepers, a bunch of kids and some lumbering midfielders. As it turned out, Miroslav Klose was the outstandin5g attacking player of the tournament, scoring five goals and taking the golden shoe award for top scorer, and he was by no means the only over- achiever. Defenders Per Mertesacker, Christoph Metzelder and Philipp Lahm, midfielder Bernd Schneider and young striker Lukas Podolski were all well short of top form for their clubs last season but for Germany they looked like world beaters. The credit goes to Klinsmann, a novice coach when he took over in 2004, and his willingness to delegate specific tasks to his talented staff. A team of fitness instructors, led by an American, looked after the physical preparation, assistant coach Joachim Loew had a big hand in the tactics, Oliver Bierhoff was always there to offer advice and they made good use of a sports psychologist. If Klinsmann does stay, or if a like-minded coach is appointed to replace him, there are reasons for great optimism. Podolski, midfielder Schweinsteiger and centre back Mertesacker are all only 21, while winger David Odonkor and fullback Lahm are 22. The coach taught them to play without fear and watched as they matured into a group of exceptional international players. That is quite a gift, and one that Germany should not squander whether or not Klinsmann remains. "We've started a reform process that is independent of any trainer -- me or anyone else. It's a philosophy that will carry on no matter who is in charge." Despite calls from the crowd to stay on, Klinsmann, whose contract ended on Saturday, said he still needed more time to consider his future. "I'm totally overwhelmed by all the compliments that are coming from so many different directions," Klinsmann said after his team beat Portugal 3-1 in an action-packed match that carried his high-pace, attacking signature. "I can't put it into words. It can't get any better than this. I need a few days to be able to understand all of this," he said amid calls from across the country for him to stay on. "So much has crashed down upon our heads, on the team and the coaches," said Klinsmann, 41. "We'd always warned everyone that the World Cup would be an avalanche, but we didn't know it was going to be as massive an avalanche as this. "Everywhere you look across Germany, in the towns and villages, the people are celebrating like never before," he said. "I need a few days. I can't really locate where I am right now," added Klinsmann when asked about his expiring contract with the national team. While the coach showed no signs of being in a hurry to make up his mind, goalkeeper Oliver Kahn seized the moment after Saturday's win to announce the end of his international career. After a brilliant performance against Portugal in his only appearance of the tournament, which provided at least some compensation for losing his first- team place to Jens Lehmann, Kahn walked up to the first microphone he saw and said: "That was my last international match -- you could hardly ask for a better match to go out on. It was a beautiful time but you have to know when it's all over." Kahn, who earned 86 caps for Germany, was captain of the team that reached the World Cup final in 2002, where they lost 2-0 to Brazil. He also won the Golden Ball award given to the most valuable player of the 32-team tournament. But Kahn was demoted in two stages by Klinsmann. First, he stripped him of the captaincy two years ago and gave that to midfielder Michael Ballack. Then he made Kahn compete with understudy Lehmann, who was chosen as the number one in April. "That was the hardest phase of my career," Kahn told reporters after Saturday's win over Portugal. "It was hard to stay in high spirits and keep a positive attitude. But it was an important experience. Sometimes you get your reward. That's why I'm so grateful for this match." The host country has won the hearts of many foreign guests who were shown a new side of the country -- spontaneous, cheerful and proud. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the month- long soccer tournament had "exceeded all expectations" and had helped to correct the stereotypes some people have of Germany and Germans. "The stale clichés of before have been removed by a new positive image of Germany," Blair wrote in a guest column in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, published in German. Nobel Prize winning novelist Guenter Grass told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily that the sudden burst of German national pride sparked by the unexpectedly strong performance of "the German 11" was genuine and heartfelt. "Chubby elderly women found a new style of makeup: painting their cheeks with the black-red- gold," Grass said, referring to the colours of the German flag. "The flag became all manner of clothing," he said. "The unorganised and spontaneous manner of it all was persuasive, I think also for many foreigners who experienced it first-hand." Such pride in displaying Germany's flag or singing its national anthem is a new phenomenon for a country where post-World War II school children have been spared no details of its dark history and the dangers of nationalism. "The carefree spirit, the party atmosphere, has astonished people abroad. People have not seen Germany this way for years and decades," International Olympic Committee vice-president Thomas Bach told Germany's Der Tagesspiegel daily. This did not go unnoticed in Israel, where an estimated 280,000 survivors of the Nazi Holocaust live today. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said Germany had rediscovered "positive patriotism" -- not anti- foreigner nationalism. "Despite their team's elimination on 4 July the month that has just ended will remain an unforgettable period for the Germans," wrote the French newspaper Le Monde. "They have never been seen wearing their colours in such a demonstrative manner, and that includes when the country was reunified in 1990. We have never heard them chant the German national anthem with so much spirit," Le Monde said. Arjan Paans, a correspondent for the Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad, reported similar views on the newspaper's weblog. "I am happy that I experienced this at a time in which the people in this country, Germans and immigrants, waved the German flag happily and carefree, without immediately creating the impression of dangerous nationalism," Paans said. Even many German Turks, who often face discrimination and have trouble integrating into German society, displayed German and Turkish flags together on their cars during the tournament. The positive image was reinforced not only by the fact that the event was so well organised but because the horror scenarios authorities warned about -- massive clashes of hooligans, violent far-right demonstrations -- never materialised. Apart from a few minor incidents, there were few problems. Even Berlin's "fan mile" street party, where up to million fans would watch the matches and party, was relatively orderly. The tournament's slogan was "A Time To Make Friends" and the Fan Fests were part of organisers' efforts to banish the image of the humourless German by staging a giant month-long party. Some 14 million people are estimated to have visited the Fan Fest areas, double the number expected, and some two million foreign visitors have come to Germany during the tournament. "The hospitality and friendliness of our hosts is what I will remember from this World Cup," Marko Mijailovic, a Swedish-born Serb, said at the Fan Fest in the western town of Muenster during the group phase of the competition. "We've had a great time and met some wonderful people here." Germans in paper garlands of black, red and gold, Mexicans sporting sombreros, Brazilians in bikinis, Swiss fans jingling cow bells -- millions gathered at Fan Fests in towns around the host nation to celebrate and watch the games on big screens. The sun shone, food and drink were cheap and the atmosphere was peaceful as fears that the Fan Fests would be the ideal battlefield for rival hooligans proved unfounded. "It has been an astonishing World Cup and the biggest party on earth," said Sepp Blatter, president of world soccer's governing body FIFA.
