Germany vs. USA: Winners and Losers from International Friendly
The United States claimed their second big victory over a European team in the space of a week on Wednesday, as they beat Germany 2-1 in an international friendly in Cologne.
Five days after coming from two goals down to beat the Netherlands 4-3 in Amsterdam, Jurgen Klinsmann's side repeated the trick against the current World Cup champions as another late goal propelled them to a 2-1 win.
Mario Gotze, who scored the winner in last summer's World Cup final, opened the scoring for Joachim Low's side after just 12 minutes—at which point it looked very much as if Klinsmann's team were about to be brought back down to earth with a bump on their whirlwind European tour.
But Mix Diskerud equalised against the run of play just before the break, and the U.S. played much better football in the second half, a steady building of momentum that culminated in a dramatic winning goal.
It was Bobby Wood who got the winner, just as he did on Friday against the Dutch. It was a fine strike, the substitute spinning his man before finding the bottom corner with a 20-yard finish.
It was a satisfying result for Klinsmann and his team and the perfect result ahead of this summer's Gold Cup (the provisional squad was named prior to kick-off). For Joachim Low and his team, however, it was another disappointing friendly result to add to a run of them since the World Cup.
Here are some winners and losers from Wednesday's game.
Winner: Jurgen Klinsmann
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Like the cat who had got the cream, Jurgen Klinsmann ended Wednesday's game almost unable to contain his delight. He had seen his adopted nation meet and beat the country of his birth, a significant victory that will only add to the enthusiasm and confidence surrounding the camp following Friday's win over the Dutch.
Both teams rotated their lineups significantly, so the result cannot be easily dismissed as a full-strength squad beating a second string. The U.S. team simply looked fitter, hungrier and stronger—all of them triumphs of Klinsmann's coaching and his players' commitment.
It is easy to suggest Klinsmann is working "miracles" with this team, but that would imply that such results are somehow not fully deserved. There has been nothing lucky about the USMNT's last two results; it's just the payoff for a lot of hard work, a lot of tactical insight and no little amount of skill.
According to the Agence France-Presse (via Yahoo), Klinsmann said afterward:
"That was a fun little game with a good end for us.
My players are very happy and the way things developed in the second half, the victory was well deserved.
This success will give American football even more attention.
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The only drawback, perhaps, is that expectations will now only grow. U.S. sights now turn to the Gold Cup, where the comparative quality of the opposition will lead many to assume that victory should be easy.
Being the favourites comes with a different pressure, and Klinsmann's side will now have to show they can cope with that as well. On this evidence, though, they should be pretty well-equipped.
Loser: Joachim Low
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Joachim Low was certainly equanimous when the final whistle blew in Cologne and certainly greeted his old boss Klinsmann with great affection, but inside he must have been seething at a slightly embarrassing loss for the world champions.
Since lifting the World Cup, Germany have struggled horribly in friendlies (and pretty badly, considering the level of competition, in European Championship qualification too), which could initially be put down to a lack of motivation—having just scaled the mountaintop and whatnot.
Generously we could suggest that this latest loss was a result of end-of-season fatigue (many players have been on holiday for a couple of weeks, returning for this game and a qualifier later in the week), but Low must know it is getting to the point where these poor results cannot be written off so easily.
Over and above that, of course, Low will simply be annoyed that the man he used to work for (Klinsmann) managed to get one over on him in a head-to-head battle. Of course he has a certain trophy to console himself with, but it would surprise no one if the grin Low wore when shaking hands with Klinsmann after the game was more than a little forced.
"Our energy levels dropped as the game went on and we couldn't respond so well," Low said, per the AFP (via Yahoo). "If we had taken our chances at the start of the game, the USA would certainly not have come back from two or 3-0 down."
Winner: Michael Bradley
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Another impressive U.S. result was accompanied by another eye-catching individual display from Michael Bradley, who remains far and away the side's most dynamic player.
It is almost a shame, from a more general perspective, that Bradley decided to return to MLS when he did—performances like Wednesday's only underline the fact that he could surely be a dynamic performer, a bastion for all American players, in the right European side.
Defending, attacking, pressing, passing: On Wednesday Bradley seemed to cover the entirety of the pitch, always making a noteworthy contribution in one area of the game or another. His pass to Mix Diskerud for the equaliser was sublime, but he had already been heavily involved in the 30-pass move that preceded it, an indication of his pivotal importance to Klinsmann and the style of play he wants to employ.
As Jason Davis noted for ESPN FC:
"He doesn't wear the No. 10 jersey (that would be Mix Diskerud) but Michael Bradley is undoubtedly the Americans' driving creative force. Just as he did against the Netherlands, Bradley served as the key man in the U.S. attack, starting moves and setting up goals with his vision and accuracy. Apparently Jurgen Klinsmann was onto to something when he moved Bradley into the role at the World Cup last summer.
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The best player on the pitch, Bradley deserved to end up on the winning side. Gold Cup opponents will have taken notice—other players may have scored the goals, but it is Bradley who they will have to stop if they want to beat the U.S. later this summer.
Losers: Sebastian Rudy and Sami Khedira (Among Others)
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Few Germany players covered themselves in glory on Wednesday, and perhaps it would be wrong to single out individuals for too much criticism. This was a result born of collective failure more than individual errors—but it is also worth noting it was just a friendly and one that undoubtedly meant less for Germany than it did their opponents.
Nevertheless, Jogi Low would have been disappointed about the way Sebastian Rudy lost Mix Diskerud for the United States' equaliser and will wonder whether he can now trust him in more important matches.
Similarly, he will have been concerned about the form and fitness of both Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira (among others) and wonder if they need to prove themselves at club level at the start of next season before they can be relied upon in his team.
If there is a positive for Low, it is that this week's European Championship qualifier is against Gibraltar, a game they should be able to win even if they picked a squad entirely comprised of second-division players.
Nevertheless, he will not have enjoyed this defeat—and not have been impressed by some of the performances of fringe players who surely should have been doing everything they could to catch his eye for more positive reasons.
Winner: Bobby Wood
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Another game, another big goal. Bobby Wood is starting to build quite a reputation for himself: the man from Hawaii who has become a European giant slayer.
Wednesday's latest heroic performance was a brief one, and for most of it appeared likely to be entirely unremarkable. That was until Brad Evans played the ball toward Jordan Morris in the 87th minute, and the youngster decided to dummy the pass so it ran onto his strike partner.
From there it was all Wood, the forward spinning Shkodran Mustafi like he wasn't there before unleashing a sweetly struck shot that never looked to be heading anywhere other than the bottom corner.
Wood's profile has been skyrocketing in recent weeks, suddenly finding a goalscoring touch after being anything but prolific during his time at 1860 Munich. Now it will be interesting to see if he can continue it: Winning goals in friendlies are great, but decisive goals in competitive tournaments (like, for example, the Gold Cup) are ultimately far more valuable.
Winner: Patrick Herrmann
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The one bright spot for Germany was Patrick Herrmann, the Borussia Monchengladbach winger making his first start for the national team.
Herrmann barely had a touch of the ball before he created the game's first goal, as he dribbled into the box almost unchallenged before feeding Mario Gotze for a straightforward finish.
In a game that got progressively worse for the home side as it went on, Herrmann was always a threatening and inventive presence on the ball—beating his man with regularity and creating a host of dangerous opportunities others were not able to take advantage of in the same way Gotze had.
If more players on the home side had performed as Herrmann did, the final result might have been different.
By the time he was withdrawn Herrmann had surely done enough to impress his coach (the mediocrity of many of his teammates only helping in that regard), and he can look forward with genuine hopes of being further involved with the team on a more regular basis in the future.
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