The Germans came out will all guns blazing against Cameroon and could have taken an early lead. However, what happened in the match has happened with Germany before. They were the better side but just could not score. Mario Götze seemed lost in the false nine role while Mesut Özil was a bit too absent for anyone’s liking.
What eventually happened was Cameroon found a chance to score. The defense, too open at times, allowed Samuel Eto’o to score the opener. The striker followed up his goal with his “old man” celebration, leaving the German fans a bit shocked.
It was left to Germany’s “Raumdeuter”, Thomas Müller, to score the equalizer. He was also Germany’s best player on the night. Prior to the equalizer, Joachim Löw had already replaced Götze and Özil with Lukas Podolski and Andre Schürrle.
And the two both played brilliantly with Schürrle scoring a second for Germany shortly after Müller’s strike. However, the fantastic Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, a former HSV and current Mainz employee, equalized for Cameroon; the Germans could not find a third and the match finished 2-2.
What Löw learned from this match is perhaps that he can trust Dortmund’s young left-back, Erik Durm, moving forward. This is what perhaps led to Löw leaving out Marcel Schmelzer from the final World Cup squad, along with Schmelzer’s injury problems.
Christoph Kramer kept his place in the squad, showing perhaps, that Löw is not sure whether he will be able to rely on Bastian Schweinsteiger (injury) and Sami Khedira (fitness) for continual service in the World Cup. Toni Kroos, who is not defensively the best, has had to share the burden in defensive midfield and might continue to have to do so during the World Cup.
Löw might use this match to test Miroslav Klose’s fitness. The Lazio man sat out the friendly against Cameroon; Löw would do well to use an orthodox center forward instead of a “false nine” in this match, in order to keep all his options open.
The Germans should be able to handle Armenia; however, Armenia might just surprise everyone if the German defense continues to have lapses.
Where to watch the match: Live Streams, Live Scores, Start Times, TV Channels:
Watch Germany vs Armenia live on Friday, June 6, 2014:
In Canada at 14:45 ET on Sportsnet World Online, Sportsnet World
In the UK at 19:45 BST on BT Sport 2
In the USA at 14:45 ET on ESPN3, Univision Deportes
In Germany, viewers can tune into Servus TV amongst other networks to watch the match.
For the complete TV listings and live scores upon kick-off, visit the Germany-Armenia match page.
