SOCCER/Portugal 2 Germany 3:AFTER THE heavy going of the group stage games Germany threatened to make rather light work of Portugal last night at St Jakob's Park. A late Helder Postiga goal made them sweat a little towards the end but a commanding display by Joachim Loew's men, who combined power, precision and persistence to considerable effect, gave them the edge in a thrilling first quarter-final. For the first time this month they looked like potential champions.
Goals from Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack, the latter two from poorly defended set pieces, were enough to book the Germans a meeting with either Croatia or Turkey back here next Wednesday.
Portugal, on the other hand, return home to reflect, yet again, on why such a gifted group of players came up short when seriously tested.
To their credit, they never stopped chasing last night's game despite twice trailing their opponents by two goals. At half-time, with Nuno Gomes having halved the deficit, there was still hope for them but when Ballack headed home Schweinsteiger's free just over an hour in, the Germans were granted a license to dig in and defend what must have seemed to every Portuguese watching like a daunting advantage.
Sure enough, over the closing stages Luis Felipe Scolari's had the lion's share of the possession and a near monopoly of the chances but penetrating a densely populated German box was to prove almost impossible. A team that has built a reputation for carving open defences with intricate passing at terrifying pace repeatedly felt the need to try its luck from long range.
That their latest dream of a first major international title ended in such frustration was something of a tribute to Loew, who tangled with his Austrian counterpart on Monday meant that he could not watch this game from the dugout.
Before disappearing to the anonymity of a seat in the stand, though, he had opted to change not only his personnel but also the shape of the team so as to better meet the challenge presented by the Portuguese.
Out went Mario Gomes, the injured Torsten Frings and Clemens Fritz to be replaced by Thomas Hitzlsperger, Simon Rolfes and Arne Friedrich but Lukas Podolski stayed out wide on the left as the Germans sought to counter their opponents' strength and numbers in central midfield by starting with three there themselves.
Ballack, of course, was allowed the freedom to roam but either side of him Rolfes and Hitzlsperger promptly set to work disrupting the quick passing and movement that had enabled Scolari's men to give the Turks and Czech such problems.
Up front Klose fought a lonely, sometimes niggling, battle with Pepe while at the other end Friedrich shouldered the bulk of responsibility for the containment of Ronaldo.
From a neutral's point of view it all started brightly with both sides creating chances, with the ones missed by Nuno Gomes and Joao Moutinho for Portugal comfortably the better of them.
Over the space of three minutes midway through the first half, however, the Germans powered their way into the lead.
Ballack and Podolski started the move that led to the first with a neat exchange of passes and the Bayern Munich man then got the better of Jose Bosingwa down the flank before hitting a low angled cross to the near post from where Schweinsteiger pushed it home.
Still shaken, the Portuguese conceded a free 25 yards out when Petit took down Christoph Metzelder and was booked for it. Schweinsteiger curled the ball in and the Portuguese defence was left static as Klose ran free to head past the goalkeeper from barely five yards.
In a far from promising position against a German side who were making the game more of a physical contest than the Portuguese would have wanted, Scolari's men set about hauling themselves back into the game.
On a couple of occasions Ronaldo threatened to hit his often devastating top gear but when substitute Raul Meireles settled for what only be described as a long-range pop after a long Portuguese build up, the Germans must have been hugely encouraged.
The sense of threat was temporarily restored, though, when the Manchester United winger finally created a bit of space for himself. Lehman could only parry his shot and Nuno Gomes struck a follow up that Metzelder couldn't keep out.
The Germans then proceeded cautiously through the opening stages of the second half, waiting for their chance to strike again. It came when the latest tussle between Pepe and Klose yielded a free 30 yards out on the left. This time Ballack, with the help of a clear push, rose above Chelsea team-mate Paolo Ferreira to Schweinsteiger's floated ball home.
There was nothing for Scolari to do but throw on forwards and wave his men towards the German box German sides tend not to let go easily of a lead like this. Helder Postiga's strike three minutes from time made for a nail biting finish, but the Germans, ominously for those other sides that remain, are still in the hunt for their first major international title since Euro 96.
PORTUGAL (4-2-3-1): Ricardo; Bosingwa, Pepe, Carvalho, Ferreira; Petit (Helder Postiga, 73 mins) Hitzlsperger, Joao Moutinho (Raul Meireles, 31 mins); Simao, Deco, Ronaldo; Nuno Gomes (Nani, 67 mins). Subs not used: Nuno, Rui Patricio, Bruno Alves, Fernando Meira, Hugo Almeida, Miguel, Jorge Ribeiro, Quaresma, Veloso. Booked: Petit, Pepe, Postiga.
GERMANY (4-5-1): Lehmann; Friedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Lahm; Schweinsteiger (Fritz, 83 mins) Hitzlsperger (Borowski, 73 mins), Ballack, Rolfes, Podolsky; Klose (Jansen, 89 mins). Subs not used: Enke, Adler, Westermann, Frings, Gomez, Neuville, Trochowski, Odonkor, Kuranyi. Booked: Friedrich, Lahm.
Referee: Peter Fjojdfeldt (Sweden).
