Germany 2 Poland 0: THAT OLD Gary Lineker joke about football being a game of two 45-minute halves involving 22 players and always won by Germany came to mind in Klagenfurt last night. As the Germans powered home to a 2-0 win over Poland, one had the sneaking suspicion Germany, disappointing in these finals both in 2000 and 2004, might just be back on an all too familiar winning track.
Goals from Bayern Munich's "Prince" Lukas Podolski in either half were too much for a Polish side that frankly never lived up to its bloodthirsty tabloid billing as the "executioner" of Germany. Indeed the only reservations one might have about Germany concern the quality of the defeated Polish side.
In the build-up to these championships, we were led to believe this was a much-changed, much-improved side from that which disappointed badly at the German World Cup finals, being eliminated in the first round. Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker was said to have worked miracles but there was little sign of it as Poland consistently looked slow in defence, short of creativity in midfield and without punch in attack.
Still, you can only win and Germany did just that. Hero of the German night, ironically, was a "German" player of very obvious Polish descent, Podolski. Speaking immediately after the game, Podolski admitted it had "hurt" him to finish off Poland:
"I left Poland when I was two years old, but I still have family there, so I feel bad for the Poles . . . as for the game, the important thing is to start off in a tournament like this with a win".
If Podolski's measured remarks were very understated, his coach, Joachim Loew was even more careful: "A win in the opening game is very important for the team's confidence and self- belief . . . but now, it's time to keep our feet on the ground".
The story of the game is soon told. Galvanised by the electric atmosphere of the big night, Poland had opened up as if they meant serious business, remarkably creating a half-chance in the very first minute when midfielder Dariusz Dudka blasted a less-than-brilliant Jens Lehmann clearance high over the bar.
If the wildly enthusiastic Polish fans thought there was more of the same to follow, they were soon to be disappointed. In only the fifth minute, the Polish central defenders Michal Zewlakow and Jacek Bak got caught square and flat when German striker Miroslav Klose read the offside trap perfectly.
Both Klose and his strike partner Mario Gomez were clean through with only goalkeeper Artur Boruc to beat. Klose did the seemingly correct thing when drawing the goalkeeper before laying the ball square to Gomez. Remarkably neither the Klose pass nor the Gomez finish was quite what it might have been as the big Stuttgart striker managed a miss that was almost comical.
Twenty minutes into the game, however, both men made up for that embarrassment when Gomez first-touched a Philipp Lahm pass to once again catch out the flat Polish defence, sending Klose clean through. This time the Bayern Munich striker got his timing right, setting up the easiest of chances for Podolski.
Eighteen minutes later, it should have been 2-0 when wide midfielder Clemens Fritz skipped past a rash tackle from Bak out on the right. Fritz made it to the byline in splendid isolation before knocking back a pass to Gomez that deserved a much better finish than his poor shot, well wide.
There was an element of comedy, too, about the second, match-clinching German goal. A ball from left back Marcell Jansen found Gomez, who knocked it forward into the Polish penalty area. Left back Pawel Golanski dwelled fatally on the ball, losing it to substitute Bastian Schweinsteiger, The midfielder laid it square for a seemingly unmissable chance for Klose. Remarkably, the striker mis-hit his shot completely with the shot becoming an unlikely little lob for Podolski who blasted home from 10 yards out for a 72nd-minute goal.
Gute Nacht, Poland.
GERMANY: Lehmann, Lahm, Metzelder, Mertesacker, Jansen, Fritz (Schweinsteiger 55), Frings, Ballack, Podolski, Gomez (Hitzlsperger 75), Klose (Kuranyi 90).
Subs Not Used: Enke, Friedrich, Westermann, Rolfes, Odonkor, Trochowski, Borowski, Neuville, Adler. Booked: Schweinsteiger.
POLAND: Boruc, Wasilewski, Zewlakow, Bak, Golanski (Saganowski 75), Dudka, Lewandowski, Lobodzinski (Piszczek 65), Zurawski (Roger 46), Krzynowek, Smolarek.
Subs Not Used: Fabianski, Jop, Wawrzyniak, Zahorski, Kokoszka, Pazdan, Gargula, Murawski. Booked: Smolarek, Lewandowski.
Referee: Tom Ovrebo (Norway).