Germany's Mario Gomez stretches for the ball during the Euro
2016 Group C match against Northern Ireland Parc des Princes in Paris,
on Tuesday.
Germany waited for their last
group match at Euro 2016 to field a proper striker in their starting
line-up and were rewarded when Mario Gomez did just enough to give them a
1-0 win over Northern Ireland at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday.
- Euro: Germany beat Northern Ireland 1-0 to win group
That goal from a player who had gone 1,454 days without starting a
competitive game for his country sent the world champions into the last
16 as Group C winners with arguably their best performance so far in the
tournament, the scoreline not reflecting their absolute dominance.
Coach Joachim Loew had picked attacking midfielder Mario Goetze as
his lone striker in the starting 11 for the first two group games, a 2-0
win over Ukraine and a goalless draw with Poland.
Goetze looked harmless in both those matches, Germany's goals coming
from defender Shkodran Mustafi and substitute midfielder Bastian
Schweinsteiger.
The baby-faced 24-year-old, who scored Germany's winning goal in the
2014 World Cup final against Argentina, was back on the left side of the
midfield against Northern Ireland and was not entirely convincing.
Loew substituted him 10 minutes into the second half.
He had said Goetze's profile was interesting because teams needed
players who could dribble past defenders in one-on-one situations to
break open packed backlines.
Having Gomez up front on Tuesday, however, made a real difference,
not only because he scored his fourth goal for Germany at a European
Championship, which puts him one shy of Juergen Klinsmann's German
record of five.
The tall, powerful forward kept weighing on Northern Ireland's
defence, creating space for others, notably Thomas Mueller, who hit the
woodwork twice before the break.
Looking safe at the back with their impressive pair of Jerome Boateng
and Mats Hummels, Germany also shone in the midfield with fine
playmaking by Ozil and the entire team appeared to step up a gear.
What they need to do next is convert more chances, which they failed
to do against a brave but limited Northern Ireland side, partly because
the Parc des Princes pitch, one of the neatest in the tournament, became
soggy when it started to rain in the second half.
"We had chances in the first two games and did not convert enough of them," Gomez acknowledged.
"The same happened today but we won and we win the group, that's all that matters.
"Now we'll see who we play next and, hopefully, the goals will come and we'll go a long way in this tournament."
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