German Victory Makes Statement
If Argentina and Brazil have not been paying attention, they probably will start now.
Germany served notice Tuesday that at least one of Europe’s soccer powers could be standing in their path before the World Cup tournament reaches its dramatic conclusion on July 9.
German Coach Juergen Klinsmann’s team is growing in strength and confidence, and its break-no-sweat demolition of Ecuador on Tuesday in front of 72,000 at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium made the point emphatically.
The final score was 3-0, on two goals by Miroslav Klose and another by Lukas Podolski, but the Germans could easily have scored five or six had their finishing been just a tad sharper.
“We absolutely want to be champions and I think you saw our intentions today,” Klose said. “That was a top performance. We were convincing right from the word go. I am proud of the team. I have great ambitions and so does the team.”
To date, Brazil and Argentina have more or less treated the World Cup as a stroll through Europe. They have won each of their matches, are guaranteed a place in the last 16 and are looking ahead to the knockout stage.
But it has been 68 years since neither the Argentines, the Brazilians nor the Germans have reached the championship final. Odds are that one of them will be there again, and Germany is seriously in the running.
German self-belief, seldom in short supply on the soccer field, was evident from the opening kickoff Tuesday.
With Michael Ballack pulling the strings in midfield, keeping the pace of the game under control and providing one telling pass after another, Germany brushed aside Ecuador with ease.
It was one goal in front after less than four minutes. Klose won a corner kick, which the Ecuador defense only partially dealt with, failing to clear the ball up field. The ball came to Per Mertesacker, and the defender lofted it back across the goal area to midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who laid it into Klose’s path with a no-look pass.
The Polish-born Klose was not going to waste a gift such as that and blasted his shot into the corner of the net for his third goal of the tournament and eighth in two World Cups.
Ecuador was chasing the game from that point on.
Despite their dominance, it took the Germans another 40 minutes to score their second. In the interim, Germany stroked the ball around in the afternoon sun, playing with an almost lazy casualness and no sense of urgency.
Not that there was any need. Ecuador was outclassed from the outset, with only midfielders Luis Valencia and Edison Mendez showing any spark.
The second goal came just before halftime, and it was Ballack who created it. He chipped the ball forward to Klose, who shouldered his way ahead of defender Giovanny Espinoza, pulled the ball wide of onrushing goalkeeper Cristian Mora and tucked it into the empty net.
Klose is now the tournament’s top scorer with four goals.
The second half provided more of the same from Germany. Germany’s finest goal of the eight it has scored so far in the 2006 World Cup came in the 57th minute and climaxed a flowing move.
Winning the ball in its own penalty area, the German defense quickly played it out to Schweinsteiger, whose exquisite pass to Bernd Schneider out on the right wing left the Ecuador players scrambling to get back in time. They failed.
Schneider delivered an equally accurate centering pass to Podolski, who outdistanced three defenders and whose first-time shot gave goalkeeper Mora no chance.
Next up for Germany is Sweden on Saturday. That round-of-16 match will provide a truer indication of the strength of Klinsmann’s side. Ecuador, meanwhile, will play England on Sunday for a place in the quarterfinals.
Said Klinsmann: “The team knows that if it plays to its full potential, it need fear no one. But we must keep our feet on the ground. We won’t be allowed a single mistake in the games that are coming up.”
In the meantime, Argentina and Brazil will be keeping a close eye on Germany.
Or should that be a Klose eye?
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Happy hosts
How previous host countries have fared, in the first round and in the knockout phase:
1930: Uruguay -- Won Group 3 (2-0-0); defeated Argentina in championship game.
* 1934: Italy -- No pool play; defeated Czechoslovakia in championship game.
* 1938: France -- No pool play; eliminated in quarterfinals by Italy.
* 1950: Brazil -- Won Group 1 (2-0-1); finished second to Uruguay in final pool.
* 1954: Switzerland -- Finished tied for second in Group 4 (1-1-0), won playoffs with Italy to advance; eliminated in quarterfinals by Austria.
* 1958: Sweden -- Won Group 3 (2-0-1); lost to Brazil in championship game.
* 1962: Chile -- Finished second in Group 2 (2-1-0); eliminated in semifinals by Brazil.
* 1966: England -- Won Group 1 (2-0-1); defeated West Germany in championship game.
* 1970: Mexico -- Finished second in Group 1 (2-0-1); eliminated in quarterfinals by Italy.
* 1974: West Germany -- Finished second in Group 1 (2-1-0); defeated the Netherlands in championship game.
* 1978: Argentina -- Finished second in Group 1 (2-1-0); defeated the Netherlands in championship game.
* 1982: Spain -- Finished second in Group 5 (1-1-1); finished third in second-round Group B, and did not advance.
* 1986: Mexico -- Won Group B (2-0-1); eliminated in quarterfinals by West Germany.
* 1990: Italy -- Won Group A (3-0-0); eliminated in semifinals by Argentina.
* 1994: United States -- Finished third in Group A (1-1-1); eliminated in second round by Brazil.
* 1998: France -- Won Group C (3-0-0); defeated Brazil in championship game.
* 2002: Japan/South Korea -- Japan won Group H (2-0-1); eliminated by Turkey in second round. South Korea won Group D (2-0-1); eliminated by Germany in semifinals.
Source: FIFA
