| GERMANY |  | 4 | : | 2 |  | GREECE |
| Lahm 39' Khedira 61' Klose 68' Reus 74' | Samaras 55' Salpingidis 89' p |
My match rating: ★★
The superiority of Die Mannschaft was total. For a brief time we thought we had a game on our hands, but nope. Greece fought a good fight, but they are no match for this kind of talent.
As Lalas just said on ESPN (I can't believe he made sense!) Greece's problem is simply that they aren't good enough defenders. The 2004 team won the Euro by parking the bus, which they could afford, but these guys can't.
Of course, no one team wins or loses a match by themselves. despite what some so-called football "analysts" may have you believe. As my father used to say, sometimes you lose no matter how hard you try. So while I do think that Greece played well, that simply wasn't enough against this Germany.
Low's men must be praised for the (Teutonic) cool with which they managed the second half. After the equalizer, it was easy to fall apart and give in to the Greeks' slower pace and consummated defensive cunning. Instead, Germany pushed even harder and found three goals in the following 15 minutes. I don't think it's humanly possible to kill a match more quickly and definitively than that. With this win, Germany also beat a world record for most consecutive international wins by a national football team. Their record is now 15-0-0, spanning from the 3rd-place final at the 2010 World Cup to tonight. Absolutely stunning.
I think this match was more hyped for the political meanings than the competitive ones. This ought to be obvious, after all, with Greece almost out of Eurozone and the German government playing a pivotal role in deciding whether to bail them out (and back "in") or let them slip away from the euro. As an Italian with very conflicting feelings about United Europe, I am not quite sure where to stand on that. But one thing is for certain: it makes for lulzy jokes!
Now Germany awaits the winner of the England-Italy quarterfinal. Just like on the other side of the board, this too has the potential to be epic. Both rivalries are old, intense, and feature some of the most memorable matches in world football history. See my full report on these two rivalries in my next post.
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My man of the match: Lahm (G)
UEFA report ---|||--- Player ratings ---|||--- Photos ---|||--- Highlights
UEFA report ---|||--- Player ratings ---|||--- Photos ---|||--- Highlights
As Lalas just said on ESPN (I can't believe he made sense!) Greece's problem is simply that they aren't good enough defenders. The 2004 team won the Euro by parking the bus, which they could afford, but these guys can't.
Of course, no one team wins or loses a match by themselves. despite what some so-called football "analysts" may have you believe. As my father used to say, sometimes you lose no matter how hard you try. So while I do think that Greece played well, that simply wasn't enough against this Germany.
Low's men must be praised for the (Teutonic) cool with which they managed the second half. After the equalizer, it was easy to fall apart and give in to the Greeks' slower pace and consummated defensive cunning. Instead, Germany pushed even harder and found three goals in the following 15 minutes. I don't think it's humanly possible to kill a match more quickly and definitively than that. With this win, Germany also beat a world record for most consecutive international wins by a national football team. Their record is now 15-0-0, spanning from the 3rd-place final at the 2010 World Cup to tonight. Absolutely stunning.
I think this match was more hyped for the political meanings than the competitive ones. This ought to be obvious, after all, with Greece almost out of Eurozone and the German government playing a pivotal role in deciding whether to bail them out (and back "in") or let them slip away from the euro. As an Italian with very conflicting feelings about United Europe, I am not quite sure where to stand on that. But one thing is for certain: it makes for lulzy jokes!
Now Germany awaits the winner of the England-Italy quarterfinal. Just like on the other side of the board, this too has the potential to be epic. Both rivalries are old, intense, and feature some of the most memorable matches in world football history. See my full report on these two rivalries in my next post.
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.
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