Austria vs. Germany (0-1, Ballack, 49′)
Talk about a bizarre match. The lead-up to the match involved some severed heads and lots of tension between the German and Austrian fans. Then, during the match, both managers got ejected and thrown into the stands, the first time I’ve ever seen anything of the sort. On the pitch itself, a very uninspiring match. The Germans were very unimpressive, led by Mario Gomez, who had another horrible match. He was offsides on a few moves, and then, on a Miroslav Klose cross, all he had to do was tap it in, and not only did he fail, he didn’t even attempt to follow it up. In the midfield, Torsten Frings put on another uninspiring performance, and even when Podolski was playing well injured, the rest of the team just seemed out of it. The Austrians, trying to spring a miracle, lacked the quality to win. They worked so had, but just didn’t have the personnel to finish, and that killed them in the end because they had chances they could not convert. The only goal of the match came on a Michael Ballack direct free kick, as he fired a shot past Jurgen Macho for an impressive strike. Otherwise, not really much else to tell. The Germans have the Portuguese next, while the co-hosts bounce out of the tournament, doing not as badly as some predicted they would.
Goalkeepers – Lehmann kept a clean sheet because the Austrians couldn’t do anything up front. Macho had a good game because of Mario Gomez. If not for Ballack’s set piece, I’m not even sure the Germans would’ve been able to score.
Defenders – Much better from the Germans. Even if they were caught on the counter a few times, Friedrich looked better at fullback than Marcell Jansen, while the others played well. The Austrians weren’t bad themselves, frustrating the Germans to absolutely no end.
Midfielders – Uninspiring performance from the Austrian midfield, and a very mediocere performance by the Germans. Ballack did score, but otherwise, looked rather unimpressive. Podolski outplayed everyone in the midfield, and he was playing with an injury. How about that…
Attackers – Klose got absolutely no service, and the service he provided went to waste. Gomez had another ridiculously bad performance, and who knows what the heck Oliver Neuville was doing near the end of the match with a 3v1. The Austrians, believe it or not were even worse. They got the passes necessary to break down the German defense but no one was able to finish. In fact, it was quite sad seeing them try so hard, only to constantly fail at their chances.
Man of the Match – Michael Ballack. His free kick won the match for the Germans, even if he didn’t have an outstanding match overall.
Dud of the Match – Erwin Hoffer. The main striker for the Austrians had a few chances at goal but couldn’t get a shot off either time. He also had a yellow card to add to his troubles. If the Austrians had Klose instead, they would’ve won.
Croatia vs. Poland (1-0, Klasnic, 52′)
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=232274&cc=5901&league=UEFA.EURO
Group B Final Table -
1. Croatia (Advances as the winner of Group B)
2. Germany (Advances as the runners-up in Group B)
3. Austria (Eliminated)
4. Poland (Eliminated)
