By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
Germany cruised into the quarter-finals of EURO 2016 on
Sunday afternoon, dispatching Slovakia 3-0 in their Round of 16 clash in Lille.
Joachim Low’s side were infront inside of eight minutes as
Jerome Boateng smashed in his first goal at international level for his
country. Mario Gomez doubled the lead just before half-time, converting Julian
Draxler’s cutback.
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| Julian Draxler finished off his own impressive performance with a goal |
The VfL Wolfsburg winger (pictured scoring) was the standout player on the day
and he helped himself to a goal on 63 minutes, scoring from a Mats Hummels
header as Slovakia struggled all day with the efficiency of German set-pieces.
The world champions have now set-up a mouth-watering
quarter-final next Saturday night with either Italy or Spain, who meet in their
round of 16 battle on Monday afternoon.
Draxler runs
the show
Having missed out on starting the final group game in Paris
against Northern Ireland last Tuesday, Draxler was keen to show his
international manager that he was wrong not to select him. He took total
command and ran the show in Lille.
Replacing the out-of-form Mario Götze, Draxler gave the
Slovakian team the run-around, exploiting their weaknesses throughout on the
left-hand side. The way he took on and bamboozled Juraj Kucka for Germany’s
second goal showed this is a player who might be about to fully finalise his burgeoning
potential.
Having finally accepted that Götze was not the solution in
the no.9 position, Low has put his trust in Gomez. He has continued where he
left off in the last domestic season for Besiktas, scoring goals freely. He got
his second of the competition in the Draxler assist and is another contender
now for the Golden Boot.
Germany even had time to take off the likes of Boateng and
Sami Khedira for a bit of a rest in the closing stages and gave experienced
hands Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski a runout. It turned into a
training exhibition and Slovakia would have been glad for the full-time
whistle.
They still had the cheek to not convert a penalty. Mesut Özil’s
spot-kick was saved in the 12th minute after Slovakian captain
Martin Skrtel had needlessly shoved Gomez in the box.
All in all, it was almost the perfect afternoon for the
world champions.
Skrtel’s
sorrow
On Monday, Martin Skrtel had led by example for his country.
He blocked, tackled and cleared almost everything thrown at him by England.
Fast forward six days and it was a completely different
story. Skrtel’s touch was all over the place. His clearances seemed to cause
more hassle than dealing with the danger and for a player with his experience,
the way he gave away the penalty showed a complete lack of discipline.
Liverpool FC fans will be happy to know Joel Matip is
arriving on a free transfer from FC Schalke 04 – surely to take Skrtel’s
position in the team. His days at Anfield are surely numbered and on this
evidence, he might find it hard to keep playing at a high level for his
country.
Getting to the last 16 was Slovakia’s aim going into EURO
2016, so it is mission accomplished but they were disappointing here and made
it very easy for Germany to play the game they hoped for.
Germany can now sit back and see two of Europe’s
heavyweights duke it out at the Stade de France on Monday. In fact, they have a
woeful record in competitive internationals against both Italy and Spain.
Either opponent will surely provide a harder test than
Slovakia ever managed but on this evidence, the Germans will be hard to stop in
the knockout rounds.
My best
three players of the match
Man of the Match: Julian Draxler (Germany)
He is still only 23-years-old but Julian Draxler is starting
to blossom on a regular basis. Injuries disturbed his first season with VfL
Wolfsburg but he looks the real deal. He was allowed to play by the Slovakians
and exposed their flaws with accurate passing throughout, plus a goal and an
assist.
2nd: Mario Gomez (Germany)
Mario Gomez is making up for lost time at EURO 2016. He was
left kicking his heels on the bench in Germany’s opening two group games but he
is the target man Joachim Low has been searching for. Scored once, could have
had a hat-trick and gave Martin Skrtel an afternoon to forget.
3rd: Jerome Boateng (Germany)
Part of a unit yet to concede in EURO 2016, Jerome Boateng
capped his performance off with his maiden international strike in Lille. He
showed skill that people didn’t know he had. The partnership with Mats Hummels
already looks telepathic too. That is great news for FC Bayern München; bad
news for the rest of the Bundesliga.
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