Wednesday, 2009-08-12
Schweinsteiger and Klose score for Germany
Germany have beaten Azerbaijan 2-0 in Baku, putting pressure on Russia in the World Cup qualifying group 4. The Germans opened a four point gap between themselves and the Russians, who have a game in hand since they only played a friendly on Wednesday (losing 3-2 to Argentina in Moscow). Bastian Schweinsteiger and Miroslav Klose scored for Germany in Baku, Michael Ballack capained the side and went the distance.
Some 30,000 partisan fans saw Germany threaten with shots from a distance early on. Ballack missed with a free kick from 30 yards (3'), then Schweinsteiger let one rip from 20 yards (6'). However, the next minutes belonged to the hosts who attacked with surprising courage yet proved their coach Berti Vogts right - he had said his side lacked goalscorers. On 12 minutes, Schweinsteiger demonstrated at the other end how easy finding the target can be: he collected the ball at the right-hand edge of the penalty area, cut inside to lose his marker and then fired a left-footed strike under the crossbar to bring Germany ahead and soothe nerves. The visitors could have put the match beyond doubt even before the half-time break, but Mario Gomez (29', 32'), Klose (40') and Piotr Trochowski (45') all missed with headers.
Although these and other chances went begging, Germany decided the encounter early, a mere nine minutes after the restart. Schweinsteiger kept possession even though he was lying on the ground, Gomez collected his pass, struck on the turn and hit the crossbar - Klose headed the rebound into an empty net from close range. Two goals up, the visitors stepped down a gear and Azerbaijan had more time on the ball, frequently causing the German backline problems. It wasn't until Klose had a good opportunity following a Philipp Lahm cross (74') that Germany got back into the driver's seat. In the final minute of regular time, substitute Cacau narrowly missed the third goal with an angled shot that hit the side-netting.
"The plan was to score early and luckily enough that's what we did," Schweinsteiger said. "You could see how difficult it is to play here. It's no accident Azerbaijan have lost their matches only very narrowly. They can play a bit." Klose said: "We put in an effort and had more possession, but it's tough when the opposition is so massed."
Schweinsteiger and Klose score for Germany
Some 30,000 partisan fans saw Germany threaten with shots from a distance early on. Ballack missed with a free kick from 30 yards (3'), then Schweinsteiger let one rip from 20 yards (6'). However, the next minutes belonged to the hosts who attacked with surprising courage yet proved their coach Berti Vogts right - he had said his side lacked goalscorers. On 12 minutes, Schweinsteiger demonstrated at the other end how easy finding the target can be: he collected the ball at the right-hand edge of the penalty area, cut inside to lose his marker and then fired a left-footed strike under the crossbar to bring Germany ahead and soothe nerves. The visitors could have put the match beyond doubt even before the half-time break, but Mario Gomez (29', 32'), Klose (40') and Piotr Trochowski (45') all missed with headers.
Although these and other chances went begging, Germany decided the encounter early, a mere nine minutes after the restart. Schweinsteiger kept possession even though he was lying on the ground, Gomez collected his pass, struck on the turn and hit the crossbar - Klose headed the rebound into an empty net from close range. Two goals up, the visitors stepped down a gear and Azerbaijan had more time on the ball, frequently causing the German backline problems. It wasn't until Klose had a good opportunity following a Philipp Lahm cross (74') that Germany got back into the driver's seat. In the final minute of regular time, substitute Cacau narrowly missed the third goal with an angled shot that hit the side-netting.
"The plan was to score early and luckily enough that's what we did," Schweinsteiger said. "You could see how difficult it is to play here. It's no accident Azerbaijan have lost their matches only very narrowly. They can play a bit." Klose said: "We put in an effort and had more possession, but it's tough when the opposition is so massed."
Tuesday, 2009-08-11
Monday, 2009-08-10
Thursday, 2009-08-06
Monday, 2009-07-27
Wednesday, 2009-07-08
