Offshore drilling, Euro 2012: Germany 1, Portugal 0

Man of the Match: Germany had a series of good-not-great performances, and with his great finish to win the game, Mario Gómez takes the honor. His 72nd minute goal took full points from a game which, despite Germany controlling much of the ball, could have gone either way. Some might quibble that Gómez did little else, but he provided a consistent target for crosses, getting a ball on goal in the second minute and putting another one just over early in the second half. It’s a strikers life to always been on a unforgiving hunt, but late on Saturday, Gómez bagged his prey. Given the nature of the goal, you can’t say that just your run-of-the-mill striker would have delivered German full points.

NBC Sports: Gomez scores to give Germany 1-0 win over Portugal

Packaged for takeaway:

• A lot of German players could have won Man of the Match, and that’s not a good thing. There were a bunch of above-average performances, and not surprise, that manifest into a slightly above average performance from the team:
  • Thomas Müller has the best shout. His crossing was very good all day, and he beame Germany’s most important player when the team abandoned attempts to break down the Portugal midfield, resolving to win this one by going wide.
  • Sami Khedira ultimately delivered the pay-off pass, but doing most of the work that Bastian Schweinsteiger (camped in the middle, possibly hobbled) would otherwise do, he seemed Germany’s most active player.
  • If Mesut Özil misplaced a pass, I didn’t see it. Or, maybe I didn’t want to see it. He didn’t influence this match as much as others, with Portugal’s midfield playing so deep, but like Wesley Sneijder in the first game, he did well with what he was given.
• The Portugal midfield saw Miguel Veloso play most of the match barely five yards in front of central defenders Pepe and Bruno Alves. The top of the midfield triangle – Raul Miereles and Joao Moutinho – were only eight to 10 yards higher. Only once did that duo get forward to promote an attack. Bastian Schweinsteiger was often seen unmarked 35-40 yards from goal, allowed to move the ball around the outside of Portugal’s defense.
• As a result, Portugal had one way of getting forward. They’d play the ball deep and wide to Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani and rely on them to … well, be Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani. There were a number of times Ronaldo generated very good chances, but isolated, all he could do was try to beat Jerome Boateng and get a ball to a dangerous spot. The four times he did so, Portugal couldn’t convert.
• Joachim Löw made the tough call to bench normal starting defender Per Mertesacker, going with a central duo of Mats Hummels and Holger Badstuber. The pair weren’t really tested. Badstuber did some nice work, blocking a dangerous Nani shot late in the match, and Hummels looked much more comfortable as the match went on. After 90 minutes, though, we have little idea whether Löw made the right choice.
• Going forward in this tournament, it’s not a huge setback for Portugal. They would have been happy with one point today, but they had to know losing to Germany was possible. Now they turn to Denmark (on Wednesday) needing a win (though there are other ways to get through). This shouldn’t be a surprising scenario.
• For Germany, yes, they got three, but they have to hope things improve. The Dutch are up next, but as it concerns Germany’s goals (winning the tournament) the one thing that has to concern Löw as his team’s problems breaking down Portugal. They may not face another team that’s going to play like that, but it’s still worrisome to think they your team, when pressed to create something, couldn’t. At least, they couldn’t until resorting to pumping balls in the box. Ultimately, though, the worked.

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