Portugal defended until Germany scored, then they attacked but couldn’t equalise.
I love Portugal but never expect them to score.
Most teams fail in different ways but Portugal always fail the same way. No goalscorer. The last goalscorer they had was Eusebio.
In this game, coming after three 0-0 draws in their last five games, it looked as if the midfield trio of Meireles-Veloso-Moutinho would shut down most of the spaces Ozil loves to use, and prevent penetrative moves.
All the time I was thinking : Bring on another full back, move Coentrao forward. He\’s very fast and cocky and determined and he\’s doing well against the speedy Muller, but he\’s the only one who can help Ronaldo get a goal.
Right back Boateng injured himself with a tackle on Ronaldo, then got booked for a rugby tackle on him in 70.
By then I has turned the sound off, which helps me to watch the action more carefully.
The Germans started to put in crosses from the right and when Khedira measured one for Mario Gomez, he headed powerfully into the net for 1-0.
Immediately, after that goal in 73, the tempo of the game increased by 40%.
Klose came on for Gomez, Varela, a young striker, came on for Meireles, Ronaldo had a fierce shot that Neuer scooped away for a corner with both wrists.
Varela had a late chance but shot straight at Neuer. A more experienced player, or one who had been on the pitch for more than eight minutes, would have swerved to the left and picked his spot.
As usual, Germany got the job done.
As usual, they look as if they can improve during the tournament.
Postiga is a has-been. Varela should start against Denmark on Wednesday, playing with and for Ronaldo.
A team of disciplined athletes, the Germans looked compact and formidable, the kind of team that gets to a final.
Occasionally, the Germans lose and many nations rejoice. In USA 1994, when bald Bulgarian Letchkov headed a goal in New York, I imagined the entire world, everyone outside Germany, jumping off their seats and punching the air.
With their worst team ever, Germany won Euro 96 and I was there when they shaded England at Wembley and against the Czechs in the final which went to extra time before Bierhoff scored the winner and turned a stadium into a cinema : it was unbelievably weird to be in a stadium and see a live football match end go to extra-time and thene end in a freeze-frame.
That was a the first time I’d ever seen a Golden Goal and after it nothing moved oin the pitch. There were bodies lying all over, as if it was a battlefield.
Denmark beat Holland 1-0 with a tidy strike by a busy little centre forward from Brondby, Michael Krohn-Delhi, who banged a left foot shot through the legs of Stekelenburg in 24 minutes.
During the first half the slow-motion swagger of the Oranje was deeply misguided. The tempo of their walk-football was quite insulting, I thought.
Holland dominated possession but Van Persie had fired a chance past the post in 23, and earlier missed a half-chance, drilling the ball past the defender and the post.
Suddenly, in 24 minutes, Denmark scored and co-commentator Martin Keown said, “Well, would you believe it?â€
Van Persie looked slow and clumsy.
And Arjen Robben played so selfishly!
It would be a slight exaggeration to say that Niklas Bendtner was static. He did move occasionally.
Coach Bert van Marwijk should say to Wesley Sniejder, “You\’re my main man, I\’m dropping Robben. Who do you want playing with you?If you want Huntelaar, he’s in.â€
Dirk Kuyt is a player without an ego. If you\’re playing Germany, you need a couple of players with no ego.