Having just about finished laughing at Robert Green’s antics the previous evening (clearly living in Germany has had its effects), I settled down to see what unknown drama would unfold during the World Cup’s third day. First up were England’s next opponents in Group C, Algeria, up against Matjez Kek’s Slovenia.
I wasn’t sure which Algeria would turn up today, the team which defeated Egypt in the qualifying play-off, or the team that lost to the same opposition in the African Cup of Nations, finishing with just 8 men left on the field? In the end, it was probably a bit of both. For the first half, they played with more purpose and energy than the Slovenians, and were especially a threat down the left-hand side where Nadir Belhadj and Karim Ziani linked up well. Ziani in particular threatened with his accurate delivery from the left wing and it was no surprise that the first real chance of the game came from one of his corners, headed wide by Halliche from 6 yards.
All in all it was a dull game. In the first half Algeria looked to be the most likely winner. They wanted it more against a pedestrian Slovenian team. It was not until the 43rd minute that Slovenia had their first shot on target, a stinging effort from Valter Birsa that Faouzi Chaouchi did well to tip over for a corner.
Slovenia clearly had a stern talking to at the break as they came out for the second half with a bit more intent, although they still didn’t create many openings. The game began to turn in the 73rd minute. Substitute Ghezzal deliberately handled a ball running away from him and picked up his second yellow card, stupidly and needlessly reducing Algeria to 10 men.
Chaouchi error
The 79th minute brought the second decisive moment. Robert Koren shot tamely from the edge of the area and Chaouchi took a leaf out of Green’s book, failing to get his body behind the shot and letting it squirm into the bottom corner, thus consigning his team to the bottom of group C. It was difficult not to think that Slovenia didn’t beat Algeria, but Algeria managed to beat themselves, and the match did little to alter my belief that England and USA would both qualify for the second phase.
Next up it was the 1st game in Group D: Serbia v Ghana. I was looking forward to seeing the Serbs for the first time, one of the tipped dark horses. After having seen Ghana’s friendly defeat to the Netherlands I didn’t expect a great deal from the Black Stars however. It turns out I was pleasantly surprised.
There was a nice crisp tempo to the game and Ghana were the main contributors in the first half. There wasn’t a great deal of goalmouth action but the 3 attacking midfielders in their 4-2-3-1 (Ayew, Tagoe, Asamoah) offered a pacy and tricky threat to the Serbs. Serbia on the other hand were rather leaden footed. There seemed to be a lack of ideas going forward and the wingers didn’t get involved, not helped by Ghana’s defensive tenacity. Whenever the Black Stars lost possession, they were quick to get men behind the ball, providing a strong defensive bulwark against potential Serbian attacks.
The second half saw more goalmouth action. Nikola Zigic wasted a glorious chance to put Serbia ahead on the hour but he couldn’t get a good enough contact on Pantelic’s superb centre. A minute later it was Ghana’s turn to curse as a header from Asamoah Gyan came back off the post from 6 yards. On 74 minutes, Lukovic made it 2 red cards in 2 games for the day, receiving his 2nd yellow for holding back Asamoah Gyan on the halfway line.
It looked as though the team down to 10 men might take the lead, as Milos Krasic had a powerful effort tipped over by Richard Kingson following excellent work down the left from substitute Danko Lazovic. Branislav Ivanovic went close shortly after, lashing a 20 yard shot just over following a powerful run.
Gyan rifles home Ghana's penalty
In the end, however, it was the team with the numerical advantage who went ahead, just as in the day’s earlier game. Zdravko Kuzmanovic inexplicably handled a cross coming into the area and Asamoah Gyan stroked home the penalty. On the balance of play Ghana deserved their win, as did their colourful fans (one of whom seemed to be wearing a steaming cauldron on his head).
The last game of the day completed the fixtures in Group D. Germany’s 2010 World Cup campaign couldn’t have got off to a better start against Australia. After all the bullish talk coming out of the German camp in the last week or so, the ‘Nationalmannschaft’ showed that they could back it up. All the talk before the game was of a tough, defensive Australian side which would be physical and difficult to break down. Germany would have to be patient, they said.
As it turned out they only had to wait 8 minutes. Mesut Özil fed Thomas Mueller with a beautiful through ball. The young Bayern man pulled it back across goal for Lukas Podolski to blast it home, maintaining his excellent international goal scoring record despite a poor domestic season. Nineteen minutes later it was Klose’s turn to do likewise, heading a Philipp Lahm cross into an empty net after Schwarzer had gone walkabout (excuse the pun).
Australia were desperately poor, lacking fight, invention and organisation. They offered little going forward and looked all at sea defensively, especially when Mesut Özil carried the ball into their final third. The Bremen man was in inspired form, carving the Socceroos defence open at will with his trademark through balls.
It got worse for the Australians 10 minutes into the 2nd half as Tim Cahill received a straight red card for a clumsy challenge on Bastian Schweinsteiger. It was harsh on Australia for 2 reasons. Firstly, Australia seemed to be getting a small foothold in the game, and secondly because it was plainly a poor decision. The challenge deserved a yellow card at the very most.
From then on it was a cakewalk for Germany who, as in the first half, played their way through the Australian defence at will with some superb combination play between Özil, Muller, Klose and Podolski. Germany added two more wonderfully worked goals from Müller and substitute Cacau and would have had more were it not for some superb goalkeeping from Mark Schwarzer.
Germany were a pleasure to watch and on this evidence will take some beating, but there are surely tougher tests for them to come in the form of Ghana and Serbia.
Previous entries in WFC’s World Cup Diary
Match Day 1: South Africa v Mexico, France v Uruguay
Match Day 2: South Korea v Greece, Argentina v Nigeria, England v USA
I personally thought Germany were excellent. It was maybe too easy for Germany to find gaps in the Australian defence but I thought Ozil and Lahm did excellently to exploit the gaps and the strikers did their bit in finishing – you're right though, there will be tougher tasks down the line.
Posted by Steven Jones | 13 June, 2010, 22:19As a native German it is really hard to imagine a german team playing real football. Especially the combination mentioned from Özil and Müller and the hard work from Lahm and Schweinsteiger were reasons for such a fantatic game from the german side. But the red card was, even from a german point of view, very doubtful. Nevertheless: I haven't seen such a dynamic german "Elf" since … I don't know when. In comparison to the last WC I would very much like to see them playing the Netherlands. What an intersting game that would make.
Posted by Belly Button Dwarf | 13 June, 2010, 22:26Interesting analysis over at the NY Times blog,,
http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/live-soo…
Lahm had the most spells of possession with 93. Orchestrating the game from right back – when normally you would expect most things to go through the centre of midfield. I wonder if teams can look at that and attempt to cut off the German's supply before he can provide the balls down the wing or to Ozil?
Posted by Steven Jones | 13 June, 2010, 22:32Green, leaf? As that great philosopher Foghorn Leghorn would say, ":That's a joke, son! You made a funny."
OMG!!!!! I just did a Google search for "cauldron headed Ghana fan," hoping to find a picture for us, and your article was the number 1 result! I bow to your god-like status. Sadly no pic, though. I did see the guy. Espn showed him 2 or 3 times. They must charge as much at concession stands in Africa as they do everywhere else.
The Germans were very impressive, though. The youth and camaraderie of the squad reminds me of the Americans, mindful, of course, that they are of a greater pedigree and backed by stronger coaching and tradition. Still, it goes to show just how strong the Germans are. The Americans, in a casual tune-up, handled the Aussies with ease, winning 3-1. In a far more serious and demanding environment, Germany walked over the same team 4-0.
@Steve, interesting remark about the German wing play. They do wden the field very effectively. It stretches defenses and gives Ozil plenty of room in which to work in the centre of the pitch. I suspect if clubs look to clamp down on the wing play, Loew will turn his tactics inside out, distributing through Schweinstager and ramming the ball down teams throats until they compress. Muller and Podolski will then thrive, cutting in from the flanks
Posted by mpalazzotto | 14 June, 2010, 02:07@ Dwarf, you're right, that would be a game for the purists. You must be feeling pretty good today. Do you think Germany can go all the way?
@ Martin, thanks for pointing out my 2nd accidental pun. I only noticed the Schwarzer one while writing. And thanks, first you're calling me 'Kaiser' and now God, I'm flattered!
@ Steve and Martin interesting points about Lahm. During the game I was also wondering how Germany would react against a team with a stronger left side to keep Lahm occupied more defensively. They would lose something, especially with Badstuber on the other side being less inclined to overlap. I agree with Martin, I guess they would look to play more through Schweinsteiger. It will be interesting to see how they get on against teams who are better organised defensively. They've struggled to break such teams down in the past.
Posted by geoffedwards | 14 June, 2010, 06:54