Joshua Kimmich, Mario Gomez Revitalise Germany’s Attack in Northern Ireland Win

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 22, 2016

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There are two ways to look at Germany's 1-0 win over Northern Ireland and, more importantly, the much-improved performance of the world champions at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Tuesday.

On the one hand, they only beat Northern Ireland. The Green and White Army fought bravely, but ultimately they were so limited that Germany's Toni Kroos alone completed more passes than the entire Northern Irish team, per Opta's Bart Frouws (via Michiel Jongsma on Twitter).

Anything other than a commanding performance would have been a major disappointment and a serious blow to their Euro 2016 title credentials. The ultra-defensive opponents were never going to pose much of a threat and Germany's dominance over them was not as much an expectation as it was considered a fait accompli before the match.

Indeed, it was one of the most lopsided games fans will see in a major international tournament, the scoreline notwithstanding:



There's some merit to taking on this point of view. In the grand scheme of things, Northern Ireland can't be a measuring stick for the World Cup holders, who will have to beat the winner of Spain against Italy in the quarter-finals to make the final four, as they have managed in each of the four previous tournaments under Joachim Low's leadership.

However, one can also take up a more optimistic stance: Germany's improvement transcended the weakness of their opponents on Tuesday. Two personnel changes revitalised the German attack that had looked so laboured for much of the first two matches against Ukraine and Poland.

It wasn't just Joshua Kimmich and Mario Gomez's impact—the two replaced Benedikt Howedes at right-back and Julian Draxler, respectively, in the starting XI with Mario Gotze moving to the left wing in the Wolfsburg man's place—it was more about what their introduction meant for the two biggest offensive stars, Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller....
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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