Euro 2008: Matchday Thirteen Round Up

Germany, a side shorn of Manager Joachim Low and midfield workhorse Torsten Frings out injured, brought in Rolfes, the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder, while Hitzelsperger also came in. Hans Flick, the assistant coach took charge of the technical area as Low watched from a box, apparently under watch from a UEFA official.

Ronaldo had an early run down the left and crossed but it was too close to Lehmann, who claimed that Arsenal have a formula for dealing with the winger, one dismissed by Clive Tyldesley, the ITV commentator. There must have been an element of truth with Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, and Emmanuel Eboue all dealing with the attacker with ease, with his dangerous moments coming in central areas in a roaming role. Portugal started confidently with decent possession bypassing strong pressure using the wingers to relieve any pressure, with Simao taking one raking ball confidently into his stride. He was played down the right channel but his shot at the near post was caught by Lehmann.

The first big chance fell to Moutinho, the Sporting Lisbon playmaker, after Boswinga’s burst of pace and swerving cross, but the young schemer was undesicive and lifted his knee to connect with it, only to see it blaze over. A diving header could have given the Portuguese the lead. They failed to take their chance as wonderful interplay between Podolski and Ballack found the former in space down the left flank and he outpaced one to score accurately for Schweinsteiger who slid in to round off a wonderful move

Then Bastian Schweinsteiger’s free-kick was floated in for Miroslav Klose to head in unmarked as the red shirts were static in their marking for the Bayern Munich striker to double their lead, with a second in four minutes. The Portuguese were stunned as the Germans used to counter-attack and their physical style to keep the ball well and attack in numbers. Clive Tyldesley called for the ‘real Ronaldo’, but obviously he was in Brazil recuperating from a serious injury. They used the running of Ronaldo, who was more involved in a central role, in behind more frequently to gain a foothold in the game. But it was a brilliant piece of possession play that cut open Germany, as Deco won the ball in his own half, and played in Simao, who spread the play to Ronaldo, who sprinted down the left channel to the box. His effort was blocked well by Lehmann who rushed out but the ball fell to a central area, where Nuno Gomes turned and fired in past the last-ditch attempt to block the shot from Metzelder, with Lehmann stranded.

ITV’s obsession and continuing hype of Ronaldo was tedious; the Real Madrid target was more prominent in the later minutes, but lost his marker for the second Germany goal and was well marshalled by the Germans. He did come close as the half drew to an end but his shot was wide as he burst into the box. Portugal were still in the ascendancy in the second half, as Ronaldo run forward past a few men, and was brought down by Friedrich, who then stepped on the winger as he returned to his position. He was booked only for the original foul, while the hilarious reaction from Ronaldo, who writhed around as if he had been shot, did not affect the referee, who might not have seen the incident.

Deco, revitalised after an apparent decline, was dominating the midfield, with mobility and incisive passing into space. The Barcelona midfielder, soon to on the move, flicked on a corner to Pepe, who headed over, with the ball coming quickly to him. Perhaps Lehmann’s outstretched form distracted the Real Madrid defender who headed over. The naturalised Portuguese defender then was booked for a shoulder charge on Klose. Schweinsteiger took the resulting free-kick and Ballack headed in past the flapping Ricardo to reinstate their two-goal lead. He was adjudged to push Ferreira away to connect with the ball.

Scholari brought on Nani for Gomes, who gave the armband to Ronaldo, whose first duty as captain was to further feed his ego and puff his chest before wasting a perfectly good free-kick opportunity by blazing the ball over instead of crossing. The younger United winger made one fine run as his side chased the game. The new Chelsea manager took the final throw of the dice by bringing on Helder Postiga, the £6m Tottenham flop, for Petit, the defensive midfielder, as four attackers were on, with their midfield light as Germany threatened to counter. Deco probed and lifted a pass to the Porto striker, who was challenged bravely by Jens Lehmann, who took a blow to the thigh. Nani troubled two defenders on the left flank, before shifting back away from goal before hitting an inswinging cross for Postiga to head home past Lehmann with little defensive pressure.

Germany were attacked with heavy pressure as Carvalho ran forward too but their pressure was stopped on two occasions by Postiga fouling the centre-back, while Nani wasted another opportunity by blazing high. Bosingwa provided width and endless energy down the right flank, but wasn’t given the pass to exploit the space in behind as crosses were frequently put in but headed away by Mertesacker and Metzelder. Germany had the final chance as Podolski broke down the left wing, cut inside his man, but his shot was easily caught by Ricardo. The Germans had prevailed once more as Ballack knocked out his new manager, as Metzelder knocked out his rival Pepe for the centre-back position at Real. A tense finish was epitomised by Jogi Low lighting up a cigarette. Apparently he doesn’t smoke.

Hopefully Jens Lehmann can round off a frustrating season with a triumph in the Euros. Tomorrow they will find out who their semi-final opponents will be. A rematch between Croatia and Germany looks enticing as another brilliant match appears to be in the prospect.

Portugal 2 – 3 Germany FT