Germany put three past Slovakia in a dominant team performance – with Jerome Boateng, Mario Gomez and Julian Draxler all scoring for Die Mannschaft.
With a place in the quarter-finals up for grabs, Joachim Loew’s men lived up to pre-match expectations, cruising through this encounter to take their rightful place in the final eight.
Before the game, many fans believed that Slovakia would sit deep and defend in droves, in a similar fashion to the England game. This was not the case for the first 30 minutes, however, as they looked to press the opposition from the outset. Unfortunately for the Slovaks, they were immediately on the back foot, and with Germany swarming all over them and not letting them out of their half they conceded to a lazer Boateng strike with just under 10 minutes of time elapsed. His long-range volley leaving two defenders gaping as it flew into the net. As play wore on they eventually did resort to a deep backline, as they were unable to cope with the rampant opposition attacks
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
It could have been even worse four minutes later when Martin Skrtel barged over Mario Gomez in the box, but penalty taker Mesut Ozil’s tame effort was easily saved by Kozacik to save his team further miserly early on.
At the other end, Manuel Neuer saved well from a close range Kucka header, as Slovakia had their first shot on target after 40 minutes. All this did though was inspire a moment of magic from the Germans, and two minutes later Draxler bamboozled the Slovakian defence down the left, to cutback for Gomez to score a simple tap-in the 43rd minute.
Despite improving in the second-half, as coach Jan Kozak rang the attacking changes, Slovakia simply could not seem to hit the back of the net. In the 62nd minute Germany added a third, as Toni Kroos delivered a corner that was nodded on by Mats Hummels into the path of the excellent Draxler, and he smashed his volley home with aplomb.
Once three goals had been scored by Germany, the final result was never in doubt.
Germany a class above
Throughout this encounter, Slovakia struggled with the pace and movement of the German players, spending large periods of the match camped in their own half and unable to break free. The two goals scored in the opening 45 could easily have been much more, and the men in blue simply could not deal with Die Mannschaft. The first-half was a siege, the second was a slaughter, and when the dust had settled, Repre‘s hopes of a fairytale finish lay in tatters.
Die mannschaft have the conviction and togetherness to go all the way again
Like they always seem to do in major tournaments, Germany have come into the knockout stages looking right up for it. Ozil’s missed penalty notwithstanding, this side oozes confidence, and their ability to function as a cohesive unit is unparalleled. Going forward they were dangerous all night, and their rearguard is made up of some of the best in the business. From top to bottom Germany are a quality outfit and they are near impossible to deal with when they are firing on all cylinders, as the world champions proved once again in this match.
Defiant Slovakia fight to the end
They changed their personnel, they attacked down both wings, and until the end they fought the irrepressible Germans with everything they had. It was ultimately not enough to win them the match, but their performance was enough to ensure they can depart Euro 2016 with their pride intact. They gave it everything, but that was not enough to defeat the might of Joachim Loew’s unit. For Marek Hamsik and the rest of the Slovakians, the journey is over this time out. But one can rest assured that they will be back on the big stage again sometime very soon.
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