The final score line of 3-0 to the Germans gave a rather deceptive picture of the entire match. In truth, Germany struggled and looked sloppy at times for 70 minutes but that was mainly due to the pressure that Kazakhstan put the Germans under.
Germany collected all three points to stay top of group A with twelve points; the scoreline however did not exactly tell the whole story. The goals came from Miroslav Klose, Mario Gomez and Lukas Podolski.
First Half:
The first ten minutes set the tone for the match. Germany seemed a bit lost and passes went astray from Sami Khedira and Heiko Westermann. The temperature and the turf didn’t exactly favour Germany. The Germans had two clear cut chances in the first half-hour.
Miroslav Klose drove past a host of Kazakh players into the penalty box. When he was finally stopped, the ball found itself at Lukas Podolski’s feet. Podolski blasted over the bar. Miro Klose sent a header wide from Thomas Mueller’s cross moments later.
Towards the end of the half, Toni Kroos who had a good game, shot towards goal but his effort was saved. The rebound found Sami Khedira who header hit the bar and went over. Moments later, Khedira sent another header over the bar. Oezil missed a sitter as well. Joachim Loew and his frustrated troops headed towards the tunnel at the end of the half without having scored.
Second Half:
The deadlock was broken in the opening minutes. Lukas Podolski started his run down the left. He passed to Mesut Oezil who passed it back to him. He passed to Klose who fooled the defender covering him and scored. Klose had to be substituted due to injury in the 55th minute. Mario Gomez came on for him. It was Gomez’s goal that truly ended the game as a contest.
Gomez went on an amazing solo run, did a swift one-two with Lukas Podolski and found the back of the net for 2-0. Prior to his goal, Kazakhstan’s Heinrich Schmidtgal gave the Germans a few scares. His shot from the left was saved by Manuel Neuer. He set up his team mate moments later only to see his team mate choke and miss the target. Evgeni Averchenko caught Manuel Neuer out late in the game but his volley over Neuer’s head lacked precision.
Lukas Podolski, who had already earned two assists on the night, scored the third. He cut in from the left-flank, drove past various Kazakhs and shot past the Kazakh keeper, Andrei Sidelnikov for 3-0. No more goals were scored and thus, the game ended 3-0.
First Half:
The first ten minutes set the tone for the match. Germany seemed a bit lost and passes went astray from Sami Khedira and Heiko Westermann. The temperature and the turf didn’t exactly favour Germany. The Germans had two clear cut chances in the first half-hour.
Miroslav Klose drove past a host of Kazakh players into the penalty box. When he was finally stopped, the ball found itself at Lukas Podolski’s feet. Podolski blasted over the bar. Miro Klose sent a header wide from Thomas Mueller’s cross moments later.
Towards the end of the half, Toni Kroos who had a good game, shot towards goal but his effort was saved. The rebound found Sami Khedira who header hit the bar and went over. Moments later, Khedira sent another header over the bar. Oezil missed a sitter as well. Joachim Loew and his frustrated troops headed towards the tunnel at the end of the half without having scored.
Second Half:
The deadlock was broken in the opening minutes. Lukas Podolski started his run down the left. He passed to Mesut Oezil who passed it back to him. He passed to Klose who fooled the defender covering him and scored. Klose had to be substituted due to injury in the 55th minute. Mario Gomez came on for him. It was Gomez’s goal that truly ended the game as a contest.
Gomez went on an amazing solo run, did a swift one-two with Lukas Podolski and found the back of the net for 2-0. Prior to his goal, Kazakhstan’s Heinrich Schmidtgal gave the Germans a few scares. His shot from the left was saved by Manuel Neuer. He set up his team mate moments later only to see his team mate choke and miss the target. Evgeni Averchenko caught Manuel Neuer out late in the game but his volley over Neuer’s head lacked precision.
Lukas Podolski, who had already earned two assists on the night, scored the third. He cut in from the left-flank, drove past various Kazakhs and shot past the Kazakh keeper, Andrei Sidelnikov for 3-0. No more goals were scored and thus, the game ended 3-0.
