It was a goal long in the making—almost painfully so—but there was an air of inevitability that Germany’s patient, near-hypnotic orchestration would eventually prise Portugal open. For 72 minutes, Joachim Löw’s side moved with the deliberate rhythm of a chess master, probing, recycling possession, waiting for the one slip. When it finally came, Mario Gomez, on the brink of being replaced, rose to the moment with a header of elegant brutality. Miroslav Klose, stripped and ready to enter, could only watch as his younger compatriot delivered Germany’s Euro 2012 liftoff.
Gomez’s decisive intervention arrived at a point when
Germany’s methodical control risked curdling into sterility. They had pressed
and passed, yet for long stretches seemed to drift sideways, circling the
Portuguese penalty area without ever quite puncturing its heart. Portugal,
meanwhile, appeared content to wait—perhaps far too long—before embracing any
genuine sense of adventure. In the final 10 minutes, suddenly forced into
urgency, they conjured chances that might have altered the script, Silvestre
Varela shooting tamely at Manuel Neuer before Nani’s stabbed effort was
heroically blocked by Holger Badstuber. But by then it was already an exercise
in desperation.
On balance, Germany’s victory felt earned. They head to
Kharkiv to face Holland knowing that another three points could secure their
place in the quarter-finals—and might simultaneously send the World Cup
runners-up hurtling out of the competition, depending on events in Lviv between
Portugal and Denmark. For Paulo Bento’s side, as for Holland, the pressure now
escalates. Much more will be demanded of Cristiano Ronaldo when they meet the
Danes, for here he was largely a brooding, peripheral figure.
Ronaldo’s evening was one of evident exasperation, his
frustration laid bare for all to witness—including José Mourinho, observing
from the stands. Too often he hovered on the fringes, starved of service,
flinging his arms wide in incredulity whenever a teammate failed to read his
intentions. One telling moment came in the first half when Helder Postiga
misjudged a pass, prompting Ronaldo to halt abruptly, hands aloft, head
shaking—a small pantomime of disgust that encapsulated his night.
Gomez, too, might have left with simmering regret. He had an
early header saved from Jérôme Boateng’s cross, and was denied by the French
referee Stéphane Lannoy’s whistle, which brought play back for a foul on Sami
Khedira just as Gomez swept the ball into the net. Germany, for all their
territorial authority, too often saw promising wide positions dissolve into
nothing through an absent final ball.
Then, with a subtle shift in gears, the breakthrough came.
Schweinsteiger fed Khedira, whose cross skimmed off a defender before dropping
into the orbit of Gomez, who had peeled away cleverly from Pepe and now faced
only the smaller Joao Pereira. The header Gomez produced was a study in
precision and power, steered back across goal and inside the far post. It was
also a release—both for the striker, so close to being substituted, and for the
Germany supporters, who had earlier been threatened with the abandonment of the
match for hurling projectiles onto the pitch.
Löw, afterwards, spoke with measured satisfaction. “This is
like an F1 race without a warm-up. You have to be right there immediately,” he
said, noting the taut psychology that gripped both teams after Denmark’s
surprise against Holland. “If you lose, there’s suddenly a mountain to climb.”
With a wry honesty, Löw even admitted he might have preferred a draw in that
earlier match, to avoid facing a Holland side now cornered, playing for
survival.
This Germany is both recognisable and transformed from the
exhilarating young side that lit up the last World Cup. Eight starters here
were present for the opening match in South Africa two years ago, yet where
that team thrived on transition and counter-attack, this incarnation seeks
dominion through possession, pinning opponents back, orchestrating the tempo.
At times, especially before the interval, it was almost too stately,
inadvertently allowing Portugal’s defensive shape to harden.
Löw recognised as much. “At half-time I told them: we have
to increase our rhythm, play faster, lift the tempo.” His players responded
just enough. Thomas Müller and Lukas Podolski each spurned decent openings,
while Portugal reminded everyone of their threat on the stroke of half-time.
From a corner that Germany failed to clear, Pepe swivelled and struck a rising
shot that cannoned off the crossbar, bouncing on the line before spinning
away—Neuer rooted, momentarily a spectator to fate.
The second half grew ragged, the crispness of early
exchanges fading under the weight of tension, until Gomez’s intervention added
the decisive note of class. It was his 23rd goal for Germany, one that leaves
Portugal and Ronaldo facing an uneasy reckoning.
Paulo Bento’s assessment was plain. “Germany controlled the game, they had more of the ball. In the end, we did everything to create chances, but we didn’t score. Now we must win the second game—there is no other way to think.”
For Germany, the machine is humming, if not yet purring. For Portugal, as for Holland, the trapdoor already creaks underfoot.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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