croatia vs germany...
Croatia vs Germany: 2-1
(Srna 24', Olić 62'; Podolski 79')
Croatia: Pletikosa - Ćorluka, R. Kovać,
Šimunić, Pranjić -
Srna (Leko, 80'),
Modrić, N. Kovać, Rakitić - Kranjčar (Knežević, 85'), Olić (Petrić, 72')
Germany: Lehmann - Lahm, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Jansen (Odonkor, 46') - Fritz (Kuranyi, 82'), Frings,
Ballack, Podolski - Klose, Gomez (
Schweinsteiger, 65')
Before the game started, the commentators made sure everyone knew that Löw was playing the eleven that started against Poland, but after about ten minutes, it was clear that this team had nothing in common with the one that won against the Poles (except names and looks). Everything that went well in the first game went wrong against Croatia. Bilić's team was well organised and energetic from the beginning, advancing early and thus forcing the German team to make mistakes. And there were a lot of mistakes, especially in the midfield, where Ballack's passes always reached an opponent and Frings' went nowhere. Only the wing players showed some effort, Fritz (later Odonkor) and Lahm sent in some good crosses, but these were unfortunately wasted by either Ballack or Gomez. I don't know what was worse, the fact that Klose was completely out of the game or the shocking metamorphosis of Gomez, who reminded me of a kid playing his first match for the A squad rather than an established striker who scored 19 goals in the Bundesliga this season.
Considering the share Croatia had of the game, Srna's 1-0 in the 24th minute was more than deserved. Fritz allowed Pranjić to cross from Lehmann's right side by failing to attack him in time, and Srna crept around Jansen to kick the ball in. The unlucky Jansen was replaced by Odonkor in the second half, an understandable decision since Jansen had absolutely no chance against the good Čorluka. We needed someone to either match his speed or his defensive talent, and Odonkor at least qualified for the former. I was actually quite satisfied with his performance overall, especially because he surprisingly did lots of defensive work. Promptly, Croatia's second goal originated from Lehmann's left side. Rakitić crossed the ball into Germany's box where it first hit the goalpost (Lehmann had misjudged the direction because the ball was deflected on the way) and then landed directly in front of Olić's feet. Even I would have scored there. By then, I was still confident that Germany could at least catch up, but when they continued being incompetent in all departments, my hopes vanished quickly. It kind of figures that we had our best chance to score in the 72th minute (the first real chance of the whole second half), when Odonkor helped arry out a quick counter attack and sent the ball via Ballack to Schweinsteiger, who produced something between a shot and a cross that missed the goal by a couple of feet. Less than ten minutes later, we finally got the goal, Lahm crossed to Ballack, Kovać headed it away, and Podolski sent a volley through the gap in the Croatian defense.
After that, things got pretty nasty, reminding me of the rather violent battle of the 1998 World Cup when Croatia kicked Germany out with a 3-0, four yellow cards (too few compared to the load of fouls) and a red for Christian Wörns. Löw said after the game that he had told his team over and over again not to let the Croatians provoke them, but still, one of them did, and I'm really not surprised that it was Schweinsteiger. He's disappointed me a lot lately, not just because he always seems to get bogged down in challenges (that he loses) and hardly ever manages to complete a move but also because he doesn't have his nerves under control. His shove against Leko might not have been the most violent of fouls, but he deserved getting sent off. He must have known that the referees were instructed to be less lenient in their punishments.
I really hope the German team will pull themselves together for the little final against Austria.
(Srna 24', Olić 62'; Podolski 79')
Croatia: Pletikosa - Ćorluka, R. Kovać,
Šimunić, Pranjić -
Srna (Leko, 80'),
Modrić, N. Kovać, Rakitić - Kranjčar (Knežević, 85'), Olić (Petrić, 72')
Germany: Lehmann - Lahm, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Jansen (Odonkor, 46') - Fritz (Kuranyi, 82'), Frings,
Ballack, Podolski - Klose, Gomez (
Schweinsteiger, 65')
Before the game started, the commentators made sure everyone knew that Löw was playing the eleven that started against Poland, but after about ten minutes, it was clear that this team had nothing in common with the one that won against the Poles (except names and looks). Everything that went well in the first game went wrong against Croatia. Bilić's team was well organised and energetic from the beginning, advancing early and thus forcing the German team to make mistakes. And there were a lot of mistakes, especially in the midfield, where Ballack's passes always reached an opponent and Frings' went nowhere. Only the wing players showed some effort, Fritz (later Odonkor) and Lahm sent in some good crosses, but these were unfortunately wasted by either Ballack or Gomez. I don't know what was worse, the fact that Klose was completely out of the game or the shocking metamorphosis of Gomez, who reminded me of a kid playing his first match for the A squad rather than an established striker who scored 19 goals in the Bundesliga this season.
Considering the share Croatia had of the game, Srna's 1-0 in the 24th minute was more than deserved. Fritz allowed Pranjić to cross from Lehmann's right side by failing to attack him in time, and Srna crept around Jansen to kick the ball in. The unlucky Jansen was replaced by Odonkor in the second half, an understandable decision since Jansen had absolutely no chance against the good Čorluka. We needed someone to either match his speed or his defensive talent, and Odonkor at least qualified for the former. I was actually quite satisfied with his performance overall, especially because he surprisingly did lots of defensive work. Promptly, Croatia's second goal originated from Lehmann's left side. Rakitić crossed the ball into Germany's box where it first hit the goalpost (Lehmann had misjudged the direction because the ball was deflected on the way) and then landed directly in front of Olić's feet. Even I would have scored there. By then, I was still confident that Germany could at least catch up, but when they continued being incompetent in all departments, my hopes vanished quickly. It kind of figures that we had our best chance to score in the 72th minute (the first real chance of the whole second half), when Odonkor helped arry out a quick counter attack and sent the ball via Ballack to Schweinsteiger, who produced something between a shot and a cross that missed the goal by a couple of feet. Less than ten minutes later, we finally got the goal, Lahm crossed to Ballack, Kovać headed it away, and Podolski sent a volley through the gap in the Croatian defense.
After that, things got pretty nasty, reminding me of the rather violent battle of the 1998 World Cup when Croatia kicked Germany out with a 3-0, four yellow cards (too few compared to the load of fouls) and a red for Christian Wörns. Löw said after the game that he had told his team over and over again not to let the Croatians provoke them, but still, one of them did, and I'm really not surprised that it was Schweinsteiger. He's disappointed me a lot lately, not just because he always seems to get bogged down in challenges (that he loses) and hardly ever manages to complete a move but also because he doesn't have his nerves under control. His shove against Leko might not have been the most violent of fouls, but he deserved getting sent off. He must have known that the referees were instructed to be less lenient in their punishments.
I really hope the German team will pull themselves together for the little final against Austria.