Good to see Gomez score again. Not sure why he was ever out of the team since the England friendly tbh. I still struggle to see what Goetze offers this team and I think Loew is coming round to my way of thinking. I'm also not sure why Draxler was dropped (unless he was injured?). He is the only player in this German squad who can beat a man, which we saw him do easily today. He has good feet and a deceptively fast first movement past the player. I would really like Arsenal to sign him. I feel Germany will need to be tighter defensively against whoever wins out of Italy & Spain, as well as take the easy chances, but this was much better from Germany.
I suspect Slovakia were actually dominated less here than they were against England (in terms of time with the ball) but because they were open (needing to win rather than scrape a draw as in the group stages), it presented Germany with space and ultimately chances. They were poor against Wales and beat a terrible Russia team so you kind of knew if Germany got 1, the flood gates would open. It was only German profligacy which stopped this from being a 6-0. Oezil is a poor penalty taker and I knew he would miss. Ditto when he had the chance later on in the first half. So much of his game is natural, but he needs to work on finishing. If he adds goalscoring to his game then he could be a genuine all-time great #10. As it is, whenever I see him on the end of the chance, I'm thinking "he'll miss".
I'm German NT fan and fan of Bundesliga in General ppl here have really unprofessional here. Ppl are getting dislikes coz one guy suggested Hamsik(who by the way is terrific player) would score-which he did not- and some guy suggested he liked Slovakia nt anthem and he got loads of dislikes. Come on ppl be more accpeting of other ppl pov.
damn the yellow card hummels could qualify as the "Stupidest Yellow Card of the Tournament". Well done Marciniak.
That yellow card on Kimmich was also harsh. But damn that Hummels yellow breaks every barrier of stupidity.
In no way I'm suggesting that Polish refree was biased against the Germans. I'm only suggesting that this Marciniak guy is stupid refrree to say the least.
@Ffaris He is considered a very good referee by FIFA. The rule is that when there's a possibility of hurting other player, you get a yellow card, even if you actually hit the ball. The interpretation goes to the ref.
One of the most dominative performance so far in Euros. A level difference between these teams was huge. One could argue Slovakia did well enough to progress group stages, but their only good game was against weak Russia. They lost Wales, were in big trouble against England and couldn't challenge Germany. However, had they defended corners better the game might have gone little differently. In first goal there were three players who could have blocked the shot and third goal was great example of weakness of areal defending in corners: Draxler was free man to begin with and simply moved to far post no one marking him. And I feel we are yet to see best Germany.
Probably three more tight games today, with the favourites to squeak through. I can only see an upset in the Hungary-Belgium game. So Germany to go through by one, maybe two, goals.
Good to see Gomez score again. Not sure why he was ever out of the team since the England friendly tbh. I still struggle to see what Goetze offers this team and I think Loew is coming round to my way of thinking. I'm also not sure why Draxler was dropped (unless he was injured?). He is the only player in this German squad who can beat a man, which we saw him do easily today. He has good feet and a deceptively fast first movement past the player. I would really like Arsenal to sign him. I feel Germany will need to be tighter defensively against whoever wins out of Italy & Spain, as well as take the easy chances, but this was much better from Germany.
I suspect Slovakia were actually dominated less here than they were against England (in terms of time with the ball) but because they were open (needing to win rather than scrape a draw as in the group stages), it presented Germany with space and ultimately chances. They were poor against Wales and beat a terrible Russia team so you kind of knew if Germany got 1, the flood gates would open. It was only German profligacy which stopped this from being a 6-0. Oezil is a poor penalty taker and I knew he would miss. Ditto when he had the chance later on in the first half. So much of his game is natural, but he needs to work on finishing. If he adds goalscoring to his game then he could be a genuine all-time great #10. As it is, whenever I see him on the end of the chance, I'm thinking "he'll miss".
I'm German NT fan and fan of Bundesliga in General ppl here have really unprofessional here. Ppl are getting dislikes coz one guy suggested Hamsik(who by the way is terrific player) would score-which he did not- and some guy suggested he liked Slovakia nt anthem and he got loads of dislikes. Come on ppl be more accpeting of other ppl pov.
@Ffaris ikr
damn the yellow card hummels could qualify as the "Stupidest Yellow Card of the Tournament". Well done Marciniak. That yellow card on Kimmich was also harsh. But damn that Hummels yellow breaks every barrier of stupidity. In no way I'm suggesting that Polish refree was biased against the Germans. I'm only suggesting that this Marciniak guy is stupid refrree to say the least.
@Ffaris He is considered a very good referee by FIFA. The rule is that when there's a possibility of hurting other player, you get a yellow card, even if you actually hit the ball. The interpretation goes to the ref.
One of the most dominative performance so far in Euros. A level difference between these teams was huge. One could argue Slovakia did well enough to progress group stages, but their only good game was against weak Russia. They lost Wales, were in big trouble against England and couldn't challenge Germany. However, had they defended corners better the game might have gone little differently. In first goal there were three players who could have blocked the shot and third goal was great example of weakness of areal defending in corners: Draxler was free man to begin with and simply moved to far post no one marking him. And I feel we are yet to see best Germany.
Draxler on fire...
@neumi17 He's playing with confidence now and gets past opponent easily. Fortunately Löw finally dropped Götze.
@Castle Yes, such an upgrade to Götze
This was the first missed penalty for Germany since 1976
@neumi17 really that is great stats.
@neumi17 First in a european championship, to be precise.
Arsenal clearly aren't winning penalty shootouts any time soon!
Hope that those polish referees will give a great and fair performance. They are usually very good. Maaan, that anthem of Slovakia is awesome! :)
@Drifter I agree. it sounds a little intimidating/scary
Germany 2-1
@koziol.mutant 2-1 , 3-1
Probably three more tight games today, with the favourites to squeak through. I can only see an upset in the Hungary-Belgium game. So Germany to go through by one, maybe two, goals.
3:1 - Hamsik to score for Slovakia
2-1, Slovakia will score
Germany wins 1:0
Germany
3-1
4-0