Germany coach Joachim Loew said his team would need to work hard in order to suppress the attacking threat of Poland when the two sides meet in Euro 2016 on Thursday in a match likely to determine the victor of Group C.
Advertisement
The goal was Schweinsteiger’s first for his country for five years.
Mustafi nearly gifted Ukraine an equalizer late on when he headed the ball back without realizing that Neuer was out of his goal.
Mykhaylo Fomenko’s caused the World champions plenty of problems though, especially in the early going, forcing Jermone Boateng into a last ditch clearance to prevent the underdogs from drawing level following Shkodran Mustafi’s 19th minute opener.
Ukraine were not bogged down after conceding and despite Germany’s superiority, they had chances of their own. Defender Jerome Boateng cleared a goal bound ball off the line.
The 31-year-old Manchester United midfielder came on in the 90th minute and quickly put away a flawless pass from Mesut Ozil for the deciding goal.
Germany’s Shkodran Mustafi heads at goal.
The goal was his first for his country in five years and made sure of a flawless start for Germany in their quest for a fourth European crown to match their four World Cup triumphs.
The 24-year-old moved to Italy to get his career back on track and while at Sampdoria he broke into the Germany national team.
The resulting corner came to nothing but it was a warning for Germany that Ukraine weren’t just here to make up the numbers.
It was important for us to start with a win, Mustafi said.
Germany dominated possession in the second half and hardly let the Ukrainians in, however, they were unable to kill the game off with Pyatov able to safely deal with efforts from Khedira, Mario Gotze, Andre Schurrle and Ozil.
Expressing its “utter disgust” over three days of disorder in Marseille, European soccer’s ruling body said it warned both football associations that “it will not hesitate to impose additional sanctions. including the potential disqualification of their respective teams from the tournament, should such violence occur again”.
Andriy Yarmolenko found himself free on the right-hand side of the German box and he produced a delightful chipped ball to the unmarked, onrushing Yevhen Konoplyanka at the far post.
Advertisement
“Of course we are all happy for him”, Boateng said. “I needed to play so I asked David Moyes to release me”. 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.
