crinkly_ears | Mesut Dazzles, Sami Scores; France v Germany

I want to begin by thanking our very beloved

andriy_7 because for this match I do believe he has outdone even himself!

Watch and weep!

I have to say, I considered ending the match spam with that. Why continue?

But anyway...

One of the nice things about the gifs for this spam is that

andriy_7 caught some lovely pre-match moments. I especially like this gif - he looks chilled to the tips of his crinkly ears, but looks rather handsome, actually. Almost conventionally so. Remember how we all freaked out over his haircut? Seems like ages ago now!

We should have seen it coming, of course. Zeit.de did predict that by October half of Europe would be copying Marco Reus's hair-style. This brings me to the line-up on display from Germany at the beautiful stadium in Paris.

You can't call a team with Lahm, Mueller, Ozil, Khedira, Hummels, Mertesacker and Podolski second-rate precisely (representing Bayern, Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal, respectively). But they were missing Schweinsteiger, Boateng, Badstuber, Manuel Neuer, Miroslav Klose, Mario Goetze and Marco Reus. At moments like this, Germany's depth can really be appreciated.

Arsenal fans will be focusing on something specific in the foreground of this gif...

And I have a feeling Poldi is as pleased to see Olivier Giroud as we are...

Meanwhile, Mesuty-ear connoisseurs the world over will revel in this moment to appreciate the precise nature of their crinklyness from behind: bless the cameraman for lingering and providing the perfect view...

Isn't it interesting how Ribery gets along so well with his teammates once they are all safely out of Munich? Anyway - everyone was very friendly, even the fans...

It occurs to me that football (as the famous adage says) is like war, both sides think God is on their side...

But then again, it was the 50th anniversary of the Elysee treaty. Since it was signed, relations between France and Germany have been very cordial. Some of us will have parents (my mother is one) who visited France on funded trips (or, alternatively, visited Germany), fell in love with someone from the opposite group and learned enough French (or German) to say "I love you" (Mum again - she's thinking of you Pierre!), and peace in Europe was thus assured.

So really, the Benzil phenomenon is simply one of a long line of happy Franco-German relationships.

These people are all getting along!

Incidentally, I have no idea what Benzi and Mesut are up to in that gif up there, but it looks like too much fun. Meanwhile, Mario Gomez was not to have an hervorragend game, but it was hairvorragend if you get what I mean (German speakers have permission to shoot me for that pun).

Mesut was genius. If you want to know how genius, consult the post recently done by

hope_calaris summarizing some of the press. The French press is similar - and France's coach, Didier Deschamp was the same - he was brilliant. Or, to quote Sami Khedira immediately after the match: "Mesut is better than anyone on the ball."

See below for some evidence of the "Real connection" as the German press have been calling it.

The stills from this match were gorgeous.

Bromantic notes: France, Germany, Madrid - location doesn't matter. Benzema can never get any proper attention! All this Samisut brilliance had his nose out of joint!

Mesut had the first chance of the game.

And looked perfectly distraught at not being able to do a heart celebration after missing it. It was an astounding save from Hugo Lloris.

Beautiful work from Thomas Mueller a few minutes later and Mesut had another chance...

On the sideline, "Antschela" (as Jogi Loew calls her in his Swabian accent) was very disappointed that Mesut didn't take his chances. She was watching with Hollande - as though to underscore the doubly friendly nature of the match (as explained above).

The French were to lead at half-time after a free-kick just before the break. Benzema took it. Sami was the one who gave it up (hence the outrage!) -

But never fear! Thomas Mueller scored the equalizer! Antschela rejoiced! Hollande sportingly clapped along...He is plainly not a proper football fan.

And then...

It doesn't get more beautiful than that. When I read a match report (before downloading) about a "sumptuous" pass even I couldn't have imagined something that gorgeous.

*sob*

Mesut's pass was disguised. He received the ball from Sami (who left it with him) and then waited for him to make his run before releasing it. He was facing ahead with his whole body oriented away from Sami. He wasn't even looking at him.

Jogi's reaction says it all. What a pass! My commentator - in German - didn't even talk about the goal or the strike. Only the pass. Since the game ended, it has been the chief subject of conversation. Also, it gives us an opportunity to ogle Sami Khedira:

And never fear,

ladya_sama - there was a bit of Samisut!

I love this picture - Gundogan was genius on the ball in his game and his cute bromance with Mesut (they were constantly together during the Euros) is too adorable:

There was a late French surge but it came to nothing. Germany won the game 2-1 (the exact score, in reverse, when the teams met in Germany).

After the game, Mesut removed his shirt. Alas! He was wearing an undershirt. On the plus side, his now famous abs can be clearly seen through the shirt.

Meanwhile, Patrice Evra doubtless returned to Manchester feeling, to put it mildly, a little nervous. He'll be facing Madrid next week. One newspaper noted he'll be telling Alex Ferguson who to watch out for.