Near certainty
June 7, 2011
Germany's national soccer team have all but booked their tickets to Poland and Ukraine for next year's European Championship after defeating Azerbaijan 3-1 in Baku on Tuesday.
Germany have won all seven of their qualifying matches and remain top of Group A with 21 points. A single point from their final three games will allow them to effectively clinch first place in the group.
It took Germany almost half an hour to get onto the scoreboard, when Real Madrid star Mesut Özil found the back of the net after a run down the left side of the penalty area. Mario Gomez (41st minute) and Andre Schürrle (90) rounded out the scoring for the Germans. Substitute Murad Huseynov scored the consolation goal for Azerbaijan in the 89th minute.
Young guns
Germany coach Joachim Löw chose a young side, with an average age of less than 24. Captain Philipp Lahm, 27, was Germany's oldest player on the pitch.
"It is important that we won today. We did not play very well, but we did OK and have seven wins from our seven games, that really is what counts,” the German captain said. "We are now quite sure that we will be at the finals."
Azerbaijan's coach, former Germany international and national team coach Berti Vogts put a brave face on the result.
“Germany is just in a different class from us. I know there are some crazy people who think that we would stand a chance against a team like Germany, but that is unrealistic and unreasonable,” he told German public television.
Injured reserves
The youth in Löw's squad was due in large part to a number of injuries that have sidelined some of the team's usual starters. Miroslav Klose, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira and Simon Rolfes were among those not available for the match.
As last minute replacements for Khedira and Rolfes, Lewis Holtby und Sebastian Rudy were called up from the U21 team. Holtby was substituted in for Thomas Müller in the 88th minute.
Germany's next match is a friendly against Brazil on August 10, followed by the next European Champions qualifying match against Austria on September 2. Last Friday, Germany beat Austria 2-1 in Vienna.
Author: Chuck Penfold, Matt Zuvela
Editor: Ian P. Johnson