The German national team, with Werder’s Torsten Frings wearing the captains armband and Per Mertesacker in the starting eleven, lost their Euro 2008 qualifier 0:3 (0:2) in Munich to the Czech Republic.
The German national team, with Werder’s Torsten Frings wearing the captains armband and Per Mertesacker in the starting eleven, lost their Euro 2008 qualifier 0:3 (0:2) in Munich to the Czech Republic.
The German national team, with Werder’s Torsten Frings wearing the captains armband and Per Mertesacker in the starting eleven, lost their Euro 2008 qualifier 0:3 (0:2) in Munich to the Czech Republic. Clemens Fritz was introduced at half time but there was no turning the tides for Germany. The win saw the Czech’s replace Germany at the top of Group D whilst they, at the same time, booked their place in the tournament finals next year in Austria and Switzerland.
Following the 0:0 draw against Ireland in Dublin last Saturday evening, German national coach Joachim Loew made a number of promised changes to his starting eleven. Aside from the expected introductions of front man Lukas Podolski for Mario Gomez and goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand for the suspended Jens Lehmann, Loew brought out of favour David Odonkor in place of Clemens Fritz on the right side of midfield. With the German’s having already qualified, the clash with the Czech Republic was basically a group first and second place decider.
In the end, the Werder representatives were very disappointed by the outcome of the game: “Our attitude was all wrong tonight. We had such high expectations for tonight but we were caught napping after just two minutes. We attempted to open the play and were caught out again and conceded a second. After that we lacked the energy and will to turn the tie” Per Mertesacker went on: “We never really found our way into the game tonight and never displayed the strengths that we have over the last couple of years. We lacked bite and the Czech’s were cleverer. The whole team got to see that we haven’t achieved everything just yet. Between now and the start of the tournament is important. Losing a game is okay but the reaction must be correct.”
Hildebrand was caught cold very early on in his seventh national match. A poor pass by Schweinsteiger on the edge of the box led to the goal that would see Germany go behind for the very first time in this qualifying campaign. From a Daniel Pudil cross, ex Borussia Dortmund man Jan Koller laid off to Libor Sionko who slotted home to make it 1:0 for the Czech’s.
The visitors, although without their midfield playmaker and team captain Tomas Rosicky, found themselves a little on the back foot after having taken the lead but the German attacks never really looked like breaking down a well drilled defence. The Czech’s were effective with the chances they had and in the 23rd minute pounced on a mistake made by Torsten Frings and then Christoph Metzelder to score their second and Marek Matejovski left Hildebrand without a chance and made it 2:0.
With their place in next year’s European Championships already secured, the German side had difficulty maintaining their high standards with their game punctuated by poor positioning and lapses in concentration both going forward and at the back. The best chance for Germany in the first half was with a shot from distance by Schweinsteiger which flicked away off the outside of the post (26’). Kevin Kuranyi had two wonderful chances to pull Loew’s side back into the tie but wasted his headers after some good work on both occasions by Piotr Trochowski (36’ and 43’).
At half time, Loew introduced Clemens Fritz for Christoph Metzelder and Leverkusen’s Simon Rolfes for Trochowski. Germany pressed the Czech’s early on but genuine chances were few and far between. Again it was Schweinsteiger who came closest during this phase but there was to be no joy for the home side.
‘Schweini’ tested Peter Cech with a free kick after 57 minutes but the match was looking beyond Germany and a perfectly executed counter attack led to the Czech’s third as Jaroslav Plasil made it 3:0 in the 63rd minute. ‘Footballer of the Year 2007’ Mario Gomez got a run out late on but the home side had little more to offer and the Czech’s took all three points and top spot in Group D.
Johnnie Muldoon
