Germany 4-0 Kazakhstan – Kazakhs put to the sword without a cutting edge
Germany produced a display that enthralled and infuriated in equal measure, and were still far too strong for their lowly ranked visitors from the furthest reaches of the European football map. On another day Germany could easily have doubled their tally of goals, but a mixture of wasteful finishing and a desire to walk the ball into the net let Kazakhstan off the hook of an absolute trouncing
While there is apparently no such thing as an easy game in international football these days, by equating FIFA rankings to the English leagues, this was the equivalent of Chelsea taking on Hinckley United, so anything less than a convincing German win would have been a surprise.
Germany set out in their usual formation, a flat back four, three central midfielders and Thomas Muller and Lukas Podolski supporting Miroslav Klose from wide positions.
The visitors, coached in a competitive fixture for the first time by Miroslav Beranek, set up with a back four and then a holding player sandwiched between the defence and the four midfielders leaving Sergei Khizhnichenko as the loneliest of lone strikers. Their game plan was a simple one, to stop the Germans getting anywhere near their goal.
Unfortunately for the underdogs some inept defending, particularly at set pieces blew their plan away. Germany’s three first half goals all came as a result of dead ball situations.
Inside three minutes a whipped in free kick by Bastian Schweinsteiger caused panic in the Kazakh defence, and Klose was left free to side foot home from six yards out.
Midway through the first half Germany doubled their lead. Mesut Ozil’s cleverly flighted free kick was met by a glancing header from Thomas Muller at the near post, giving the 21-year-old his first international goal since the World Cup.
Kazakhstan’s attempts at defending as an organized unit were derisible, with their endeavours to hold a defensive line and play the offside trap hopelessly exploited for Germany’s third, with the impressive Ozil’s ball into the box finding an onside Muller who calmly controlled with his chest before driving past David Loriya.
For all their penetrative football, particularly down their left side through Podolski, Germany seemed to lack a cutting edge and in the second half Kazakhstan’s Zhambyl Kukeyev almost embarrassed them, hitting the outside of the post from the corner of the box at the end of a lovely flowing move as the visitors started to gain in confidence.
The Germans’ efforts to score the perfect goal during the second half frustrated the crowd to the point of booing their heroes. Klose turned the jeers into cheers in the closing moments as another defensive error led to an easy tap-in and his 61st goal for his country taking him within seven of Gerd Muller’s national record.
Germany’s victory maintains their 100% record in qualifying and takes them eight points clear of Belgium in Group A. Their place in the finals looks assured, yet despite the scoreline their performance left room for improvement. A potent goal scorer to assist Klose would make them an ever stronger proposition and that is a scary thought for the rest of Europe.
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