Germany vs. Portugal (3-2, Schweinsteiger, 22′, Klose, 26′, Nuno Gomes, 42′, Ballack, 62′, Helder Postiga, 87′)
Portugal came into the match favorites, after storming past the group stage, with impressive displays against the Turks and the Czechs in Group play. The Germans, on the other hand looked out of their element in the Group stage, having lost to Croatia. The Germans made three changes pre-match, including finally taking out ‘Super Mario’ Gomez, while the Portuguese stayed with the same lineup that did them wonders in their first two matches. However, as the match started and Joakim Lowe watched from the stands, the Germans took the match to the Portuguese. They simply dominated proceedings early on, and finally, on a string of beautiful one touch passes leading to the feet of Lukas Podolski, he crossed it in towards the recently suspended Bastian Schweinsteiger, and he simply beat Paulo Ferriera to the ball, and struck it past the stranded Ricardo for a 1-0 lead. If you thought Schweinsteiger was having a good match so far, his next action was a free kick 20 yards outside the box. It was swung in perfectly to Miroslav Klose, who didn’t have a great touch on the ball, but still had enough to put it past Ricardo for a 2-0 lead. After this goal, the Portuguese got a bit desperate and decided to attack more. Curiously enough, it seemed as if Bosingwa was attacking more on the right than Simao, as he provided some nice crosses, but without the quality a typical right midfielder would’ve done. The Portuguese struck one back shortly before the halftime whistle when a run by Ronaldo resulted in a save by Lehmann, but the resulting follow up by Nuno Gomes led to his second of the tournament, for a mere 2-1 advantage heading into the half. As the second half started, the Portuguese continued to push up, but without a competent attack from the right and without a hitman in the middle, things got rough. Finally, the match was put out of reach with another Schweinsteiger free kick, this time met on the head by captain Michael Ballack for his second goal in two games off set-pieces. The Portugese crawled one back after a nice run by Nani resulted in a cross met by Helder Postiga, but otherwise, they couldn’t muster much else. With an able scorer, things might’ve been different, or if Simao hadn’t played like he did, things could’ve changed for the Portuguese. But as it stands, the Germans are off to the next round.
Goalkeepers – Jens Lehmann was a lot better today. Nuno Gomes’ goal was a brilliant save that took a wrong bounce, while Postiga’s goal was mainly his defenders’ fault for not marking him. Ricardo, on the otherhand had a bad match, period. The final goal where he rushed out for no apparent reason, sealed the fate of the Portuguese.
Defenders – Let’s face it, both defenses were less than stellar. While Bosingwa attacked, Pepe and Ricardo Carvalho couldn’t cover the ground necessary as central defenders. That, and Paulo Ferriera looked out of his element at left back. The Germans weren’t much better, as Mertesacker and Metzelder looked shaky in front of Lehmann. Lahm didn’t have a great match attacking or defending, but Arne Friedrich made up for it, with his stellar play against Cristiano Ronaldo.
Midfielders – The German midfield dominated the Portuguese midfield. Ballack and Schweinsteiger looked like themselves for the first time all tournament, while Hitzlsperger made a mark on the right with his blistering, albeit unwarranted long shots. The Portuguese really got nothing out of Cristiano Ronaldo or Deco, their two star players, while Simao had another ridiculously poor outing. He’s quickly developing into one of my least favorite players in the world. In this tournament, he’s shown himself to be not only ridiculously selfish and arrogant, but not all that good.
Attackers – Pre-tournament, I felt the major weakness for the Portuguese would be up front. However, as this match progressed, other issues took precedence, mainly the defense. Nuno Gomes had decent support up front and bagged a goal on a remarkable save by Jens Lehmann that bounced the wrong way, but he didn’t do enough. Helder Postiga scored on a nice cross by second half sub Nani, but again, he isn’t the finisher the Portuguese need. The Germans, on the other hand, had Podolski up front for the first time all tournament (he provided the assist for the first goal) with Klose (who got off the mark). Podolski had another spectacular match, seemingly controlling the match in the offensive end for the Germans. You’ve gotta wonder if the German game is faltering because they’re not playing players like Podolski at Bayern, or if they’re just too reliant on foreign talent.
Man of the Match – Bastian Schweinsteiger. He was one of my favorites leading up to WC2006, but since then, I really haven’t seen him play. Today, he was just dynamic. He set up two goals with his precise free kicks, and scored after beating Paulo Ferriera to the spot on a Lukas Podolski cross. He was what the Germans lacked in the first three matches of the tournament.
Dud of the Match – Pepe and Ricardo Carvalho. It wasn’t a pretty match for the Portugese defense. The brute strength of the Germans just dominated the more technically sound Portuguese. The pair were beaten on both headers and were nowhere to be found as Schweinsteiger scored the opener.
