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Germany in quarter-final
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
German football still gripped by World Cup fever: After a dream start Jürgen Klinsmann's team gained a deserved 2-0 win in Munich - Germany passed their first major test in the tournament with a victory against Sweden in the last sixteen.
In front of a 66,000 crowd, Lukas Podolski scored twice (4 and 12 mins) to put the host-nation in the World Cup quarter-finals for the fifteenth time and he also secured Germany's best win in a World Cup knock-out match for twenty years. The German fans cheered on their team, long before the final whistle, with choruses of "Berlin, Berlin, we're going to Berlin". Germany can now move on to the quarter-final in Berlin on 30 June (17.00 kick-off) with their heads held high. They will face Argentina after their 2-1 win over Mexico in Leipzig.
"It's great fun playing in this side. It's fantastic what this team has achieved and how everybody is playing for each other. We can definitely make it though to the semis and the Final!", beamed Klinsmann after his team's fifth consecutive win which was sealed with an outstanding first half performance.
Chancellor Angela Merkel watched the game in the stadium. "My expectations have been fulfilled beyond belief. This team really believes in itself. They can achieve a lot more. And I think they will.", the Chancellor commented after the match.
Germany captain Michael Ballack maintained, "The team played sensationally in the first half. In this form we don't have to fear anyone". "I'm happy with my goals but that's my job as a striker. Miro and I understand each other on and off the pitch", Podolski said in praise of his fellow front-man Miroslav Klose who provided two high quality assists in this game. The new Bayern Munich player Podolski moves into second place in the Golden Shoe table with three goals, one place behind Klose.
After cruising through the group stage, Germany stood up well to the wave of expectation at the start of the knock-out rounds and has joined the group of tournament favourites with an enthusiastic attacking performance. In the best first half in years Germany played as if possessed and impressed with a previously scarce desire to attack. Klose and Podolski played outstandingly together and a supposedly defensively-strong Sweden was unable to offer much resistance. The Scandinavians lost defender Teddy Lucic when the former Bayer Leverkusen player was sent off in the 35th minute after receiving a second yellow card for unsporting behaviour.
The new Bayern man Podolski brought his goal tally under Klinsmann up to 15 in 21 games with, probably, the two most important goals of his career. His striking partner Klose was almost more effective as, like his teammate, he tried to score from every possible position. Playing behind the front two Ballack and Torsten Frings ran the game from midfield.
For the third consecutive game Germany did not concede a goal with the defence standing firm and making only the occasional minor error. Christoph Metzelder returned to the centre of the defence in place of Robert Huth to gain his 25th cap and showed great vision. The Brazilian referee Carlos Simon punished the Dortmund player rather harshly in the 53rd minute when he awarded a penalty after an innocuous challenge on Henrik Larsson in the box. However, taking the spot-kick himself Larsson fired the ball high over the bar.
Arne Friedrich produced his best defensive performance in the tournament so far. The Hertha Berlin defender stuck close to Sweden's main playmaker Fredi Ljungberg and allowed him little room for manoeuvre. After 310 minutes of a more or less untroubled World Cup Jens Lehmann was called into action just before the break when he saved a snap shot on the turn (40 mins) from Zlatan Ibrahimovic who had come back into the side after recovering from a groin injury.
Returning to the stadium where they secured a 4-2 win over Costa Rica in the opening match, Germany were greeted by a black, red and gold wave of euphoria. Despite the heat, the hosts started the match at a furious pace and struck early for the third time. After a lay off from Ballack, Klose squeezed past Olof Mellberg and Erik Edman before goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson blocked his shot at goal. Podolski was more successful when he fired the rebound into the net after 3:53 minutes.
Less than ten minutes later the German fans were already starting to sing with joy after the next one-two between Germany's front men. Klose drew three Swedish defenders towards him in the penalty area and then played an intelligent pass to Podolski who rounded off the best German international performance since 14 November 2001 when they beat Ukraine 4-1.
Klinsmann's team continued to pile unrelenting pressure on the Swedish goal. Isaksson's net was practically under constant fire with shots from 20 metres out by Ballack (18 mins) and long range efforts by Klose (31 mins), Frings and Schweinsteiger (both 33 mins). But the Swedish keeper pulled off some great saves to prevent Germany from adding to their total. After a quick breather Germany stepped up the pressure again in the second half. With Ballack (55 mins) and Bernd Schneider (84 mins) both hitting the post, the final margin of victory could have been higher.
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