Monday, June 14, 2010

Özil and co impressive in opener

Germany tore Australia to shreds last night in a performance brimming with astounding flair. Admittedly, they were hardly tested by a pedestrian and dreadfully defensive Socceroos outfit, but the movement of their front players was wonderful to behold. Mesut Özil, who was constantly drifting in an out of the hole behind Miroslav Klose, particularly impressed with his touch and movement throughout the game. His magnificent pass through to Thomas Müller en route to the first goal scored by Lukas Podolski was preceded by a turn of intelligence that belied his age and experience. Bayern Munich’s Müller, a year younger than Özil at 20, is also a wonderfully versatile footballer, blessed with pristine technique and crucially with an icy composure that he displayed with his finish for Germany’s third goal.

Having now won their opening game of the past six World Cup finals, Germany once again proved why they are a team that must never be written off. The side may be lacking in renowned stars, with Michael Ballack also having been ruled out of the tournament, but on the evidence of their showing last night, the present group of youngsters seem to possess the acuity to go with their undoubted flair, which makes them genuine title contenders.

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