Mario Gomez’s footwear is not built for speed
So far under Joachim Low, the Germans have looked flat in the first big tournament in the post Klinsmann era. The mojo is missing and it is missing badly, especially from Mario Gomez who missed an absolute sitter. All it required was a tap in from a Klose pass. Instead he scooped the ball for a Garics goal line save. After that miss, Gomez looked like Grima Wormtongue and so did Joachim Low.
Super Mario was super bad. But the rest of the Germans were not much better. It seemed likely that Austria could force a draw. But as expected it took Ballack’s power packed free kick in the 49th minute to get the Germans ahead. The Austrians pushed the German defense but lacked the final finish to really threaten.
Germany now meets Portugal and its high powered attack. It will be interesting to see how the German defense holds up.