Germany midfielder Sami Khedira added: “Well it wouldn’t be right if everything was flawless in the first game”. We can do better and we wanted to keep it alive until the last minute.
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For Ukraine, the situation brought back unhappy memories of an incident that marred their game against England as a co-host of Euro 2012.
The 31-year-old midfielder, coming back from a prolonged injury lay-off, said: “Everything is very good”.
Like in this Euro, they were labeled as the dark horse in Euro 2008, and they justified that tag by beating Germany and finishing the group stage with 100% record.
There was no denying who the star man was for Croatia, with the Real Madrid midfielder turning up with a stunning strike to win the game while continuing to pull the strings in the middle of the park throughout the game and putting in a fine defensive shift when called upon.
“We ran a lot in the first half but we seemed to have some problems in the transition, we lost a lot of balls”, he said.
The evening was only blemished by fighting between German and Ukraine supporters in Lille before the game. Successful coaches and teams manage the transition from one to the other within seconds – like Germany did for their second; judging by today’s game, Ukraine have the turning circle of an oil tanker. Retired captain Philipp Lahm’s absence would be felt by any team in the world, and today’s match truly showed it. Poland’s Robert Lewandowski and Arkadiusz Milik will have salivated to see the frequent gaps appearing in Germany’s backline, and that will surely be top of Jogi Low’s mind after making it through this first test. “I think Mustafi played a super game today. I hope I can play some more”.
“We’ll have to raise ourselves in the tournament and hopefully already against Poland”, said Neuer, referring to the team’s game at Stade de France outside Paris on Thursday.
German police stopped 21 hooligans, who were attempting to travel to France, before they crossed the border, broadcaster N-tv reports.
Ukraine then launched the ball down the other end of the pitch and Mustafi almost scored an own goal as his backwards header beat the onrushing Neuer but the ball trickled wide.
Yet Germany did not have things all their own way and Group C rivals Poland and Northern Ireland will have been heartened by some of their defending, particularly from set-pieces.
The striker complained at the referee throughout the first half and had a lengthy conversation with him at the start of the second period, as Northern Ireland successfully nullified his goal threat.
Ukraine finished the first half strongly with Andriy Yarmolenko having a goal rightly ruled out for offside. When you’re in Germany’s position, you can afford to worry about the goals you might have conceded. “The players knew they would be facing a team at a very high level”.
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Ukraine boss Mykhailo Fomenko was left to rue missed opportunities but was still confident of qualifying from a group also including Poland and Northern Ireland.
