Euro 2008 - Day 10: Ballack Strike Sends Germany to Quarterfinals
June 17th 2008 00:37
n an effort to solidify his defense, Joachim Löw replaced left-back Marcell Jansen by veteran defender Arne Friedrich. Friedrich played on the right while untouchable Phillip Lahm was sent to the left side of the defense. The rest of the squad was unchanged as all Germany needed to go through was a draw. Switzerland made three changes to their starting eleven – striker Erwin Hoffer replaced Roland Linz, midfielder Christian Fuchs replaced Christoph Leitgeb and finally, defender Martin Hiden replaced Sebastian Prödl since the defender was suspended after picking up a yellow card in the two previous matches.
Although Germany only needed to pick up a point to qualify for the next round, they weren't going to settle on a draw against a team like Austria. Consequently, they started to attack very early on, even getting a three-on-one at the 3rd minute of play but couldn't capitalize. At the 5th minute, Mario Gómez missed the unmissable in front of the empty net as he couldn't get the proper touch on Klose's cross. It was supposed to be an easy tap-in but the striker somehow sent the ball in the air and an Austrian defender managed to clear it right before it crossed the goal line. It was all Germany in the first 15 minutes but the Austrians quickly got over their nervousness after that and started to show their teeth. But like last night's two games, the match was punctuated by endless fouls and free kicks, breaking the rhythm of both teams. Strangely enough, both coaches were sent to the stands right before half-time as they seemed to get in the way of the fourth official (that's probably what the referee thought, I really don't know what happened there). Both teams went to the locker room tied at 0-0. Germany had some scoring chances, but their passing play wasn't as effective as normally expected and they had to work on that for the second half.
The Germans didn't wait very long to get on the scoreboard as Michael Ballack fired a terrific rocket past Jürgen Macho on a free-kick at the 49th minute. The whole team seemed to relax after that goal, and settled very nicely into a wait-for-our-chances approach. Austrian dribbling wonder Umit Korkmaz tried several times to get through the German defense but he seemed to be the only one who cared since no one else on his team provided a second effort. On Germany's side, Lahm was giving all sorts of trouble to the Austrians with his penetrating runs but his efforts weren't good enough to get a second goal. Germany's problem to build plays was compounded by Torsten Frings' inability to complete his passes all match long. It was horrible performance from the defensive midfielder who is usually very reliable.
So, Ballack's strike was the only difference in this game which seemed a bit anti-climactic in the end as it was obvious that the Austrians weren't going to score. Germany will now go on to face Portugal in the quarterfinals and we'll see how their defense will hold up against such an offensive team.
My man of the match: Michael Ballack. The captain gave the win to his team with a superb strike.
Honorable mention: Phillip Lahm. The defender was excellent in the second half as he made several offensive rushes. He also prevented Austria from equalizing as he cleanly tackled their forward who was on his way to a one-on-one against Lehmann.
Although Germany only needed to pick up a point to qualify for the next round, they weren't going to settle on a draw against a team like Austria. Consequently, they started to attack very early on, even getting a three-on-one at the 3rd minute of play but couldn't capitalize. At the 5th minute, Mario Gómez missed the unmissable in front of the empty net as he couldn't get the proper touch on Klose's cross. It was supposed to be an easy tap-in but the striker somehow sent the ball in the air and an Austrian defender managed to clear it right before it crossed the goal line. It was all Germany in the first 15 minutes but the Austrians quickly got over their nervousness after that and started to show their teeth. But like last night's two games, the match was punctuated by endless fouls and free kicks, breaking the rhythm of both teams. Strangely enough, both coaches were sent to the stands right before half-time as they seemed to get in the way of the fourth official (that's probably what the referee thought, I really don't know what happened there). Both teams went to the locker room tied at 0-0. Germany had some scoring chances, but their passing play wasn't as effective as normally expected and they had to work on that for the second half.
The Germans didn't wait very long to get on the scoreboard as Michael Ballack fired a terrific rocket past Jürgen Macho on a free-kick at the 49th minute. The whole team seemed to relax after that goal, and settled very nicely into a wait-for-our-chances approach. Austrian dribbling wonder Umit Korkmaz tried several times to get through the German defense but he seemed to be the only one who cared since no one else on his team provided a second effort. On Germany's side, Lahm was giving all sorts of trouble to the Austrians with his penetrating runs but his efforts weren't good enough to get a second goal. Germany's problem to build plays was compounded by Torsten Frings' inability to complete his passes all match long. It was horrible performance from the defensive midfielder who is usually very reliable.
So, Ballack's strike was the only difference in this game which seemed a bit anti-climactic in the end as it was obvious that the Austrians weren't going to score. Germany will now go on to face Portugal in the quarterfinals and we'll see how their defense will hold up against such an offensive team.
My man of the match: Michael Ballack. The captain gave the win to his team with a superb strike.
Honorable mention: Phillip Lahm. The defender was excellent in the second half as he made several offensive rushes. He also prevented Austria from equalizing as he cleanly tackled their forward who was on his way to a one-on-one against Lehmann.
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