Germany finally complete the Italian Job

by Martin Wohlfahrt

The 2nd of July 2016 is now an official cornerstone date in the history of the German soccer association.  It’s the day the “Italian curse” was broken when a German national team was able to defeat Italy in a tournament for the first time.

Leaving a three man line in the defense around Jerome Boateng , Germany tried to get the upper hand right away by dominating the center of the field  while controlling the ball. Italy held against that with the best defensive line of all tournament teams in 2016. It proved to be impenetrable for the first half. Germany in turn was effectively prohibiting any counter attempts by the “Squadra Azzurra”.  

Both teams were matched up well against each other. It was a stalemate in this battle of physical strength, talent and will. Germany began the second half sharper, pushing the Italian team deeper and deeper into their own half. Their effort was rewarded in the 65th minute when Germany found a way to successfully squeeze through the Italian defense. Jonas Hector and Mario Gomez combined on the left to swing a cross to the Italian near post. Perfectly timed, Oezil got in between the defenders and hooked the ball past Buffon.

It’s Hector’s House as Germany finally overcome Italians

Die Mannschaft seemed to be in control with a little more than 10 minutes remaining when Boateng rose to challenge Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini for a header inside the penalty area. Unfortunately a rather clumsy looking Boateng threw his arms out, leading to Chiellini’s header striking his outstretched arm and the referee rightly called a penalty. Leonardo Bonucci turned it into the equalizing goal. There were no more goals and it came to another penalty shootout in the Euro 2016.

It was a dramatic and bizarre shootout in which both teams showed nerves.  The first stunner occurred even before the kicks started when Germany’s captain decided to shoot on the goal in front of Italy’s fan block. Thomas Mueller had the chance for his first goal in this tournament, and promptly missed it. Mesut Oezil was unlucky when his ball hit the aluminum.  That was his second penalty miss in this tournament.

But Italy fared worse.

 Simone Zaza was subbed in last minute as penalty kick expert. Ironically his was the worst penalty of his team. If his penalty kick was good for anything, then maybe as talking point for a “should we ban those pathetic penalty kick stutter-step run ups altogether?” discussion. Graziano Pelles tried psychological warfare by indicating to Germany’s goalkeeper he’d lop the ball over him in the middle. Instead he surprised everybody, including himself, by shooting the ball far left next to the goal.

Penalty miss becomes Italian national punchline

In the end Germany had the win with 6-5 in the books. They had booked their place in the Euro 2016 semi-finals and sent Italy home. But the victory came at great cost for the German team.  Mats Hummels got another yellow card and will not be in the semi-final against France.  Mario Gomez, Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger are all injured and will most likely not be able to play either.

That means more than some minor adjustments will be needed for the next game. “The Machine” will need a complete overhaul. Firstly the defense will need to be restructured.  Hummels could be replaced by Benedikt Höwedes.  National Coach Loew might also decide to switch back to a four man defense to intercept France’s dangerous forwards.

Against France, Iceland’s team seemed depleted and overwhelmed especially after conceding their first goal early in the game. But the French forward movement was particularly dynamic, and an outright explosive force to reckon with.  A German three man defensive line could prove to be too vulnerable to those vertical power attacks by Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud.

Giroud especially who be well rested as he was subbed out early by French coach Didier Deschamps, will need some extra attention.

Secondly,  Jogi Loew will have to come up with a plan B for their midfield.  

Emre Can could be the right choice as he is a midfield player who can handle physical play because the midfield is where France’s Paul Pogba will lie in waiting for one of his dangerous attacking runs.

Keeping him separated from the ball for as long as possible during the game might spare the German defense some headaches.

Third and lastly the Germans need to find a replacement for Mario Gomez upfront.

His namesake Mario Goetze did not look very convincing when he was playing so far and coach Loew did right by replacing him early in the tournament. Maybe he is going to give him another chance? Otherwise there is midfielder Thomas Mueller who can play forward if need be.

Then again he seems to be out of touch with his inner striker as he still has still not scored a single goal in this tournament so far. But paired up with Julian Draxler those two could give the French defense literally a run for their money.

France will go into this game as a well rested, highly motivated tournament host. They will be running on the Iceland game euphoria and be hungry for more. But the German national team is not entirely spent yet.

They might be ailing, but their bench has still a few qualified players eager to shine in this tournament. Whatever Loew and his staff will decide on, it will most likely be a setup well adjusted to the challenge that this French national team will be.