Werder Bremen met Hamburger SV for the first of four matches on Wednesday in the DFB-Pokal semifinal. Werder deservedly came out on top after extra-time on penalties following an engaging 1-1 draw at full-time. Though it was Hamburg’s Frank Rost who kept the game on to become the longest ever Nord-Derby, it was Tim Wiese who was the goalkeeper hero of the night.

First, in the second-period of extra-time Wiese quickly came off his line to deny Hamburg a late winner. Then it was Wiese again who saved three consecutive penalties to seal the victory. The win sets up Werder to face Bayer Leverkusen for the DFB-Pokal in Berlin on May 30. Hopefully the final goes to penalties and we will get to see first-hand René Adler versus Tim Wiese.

This all comes to show that Tim Wiese is a serious challenger for the top Germany goalkeeping spot. He has obviously the skill, the speed, and the presence of mind to become Number 1. What separates him from Robert Enke and René Adler is that Tim Wiese looks and acts slightly crazy and erratic – like all the best German goalkeepers were. (Notice his movements before stopping each penalty and compare them to Rost.)

On a side note after watching the game, Clemens Fritz should never be recalled to the national team again, Marcell Jansen should never ever take a penalty for Germany, and Jerome Boateng should be considered for a nomination to the national team soon – though he should not take a penalty either.

Goes to show that Germany has came a long way since then – the wrong way unfortunately.

2. The referee was indeed bad – good for Germany, but still bad. It should have been throw in Wales before Ballack scored the first goal and Wales should have gotten a penalty when Tasci slipped up in the box and took down a Welsh player in the process. Thanks to the complexities of chaos theories and butterfly effects it’s still perfectly possibly that Germany would have won 2-0 anyway, in fact Gomez would have probably scored both goals. It could have been the other way round as well and those two calls helped brush over the fact that this team is just not what it used to be – but I’m repeating myself.

3. Lukas Podolski doesn’t like tactics. Or he doesn’t like it when Ballack lectures him about tactics. Whatever the case, his reaction was just the right thing to do to get some views and comments on YouTube and isn’t that what counts in the 2.0 era?
 

 
Apart from that it was obviously immatureshouldn’thavehowdarehe. What’s great about all of this for Jogi Löw is, that all the recent team internal rifts and argy bargy center around Michael Ballack and not his man/team management skills.

4. Jogi Löw needs a better backup system than 4-2-3-1 (or was it a Dutch 4-3-3 or a 4-1-2-1-2 or a 4-8-15-16-23-42? The verdict is still out.) In any case, it was a one trick pony at the Euros and not so cherished overall and I wasn’t impressed again either.

5. Mario Gomez could tell Daryl a thing or two about the merits of international weeks.

6. I wasn’t disappointed by Thomas Hitzelsperger’s performance this time around, because I needed all my disappointment for Simon Rolfes.

7. Arne Friedrich can chill and focus on Berlin. He was set to debut in Germany’s defense before his injury kept him out of the two games. A chance for Serdar Tasci to apply for the open position alongside Per Mertesacker. Rumor has it the job interview didn’t go so well.

8. There is such a thing as eternal justice for goalkeepers. Rene Adler seemed to have taken maximum advantage of Robert Enke’s injury and looked set to become Germany’s new #1. Now it was Robert Enke’s turn to take advantage of Adler’s injury. He pulled off two superb saves for the gallery and was overall very confident and in complete control of his box.

9. Ballack’s goal was a beauty. The fact that it wasn’t 100% legal and that Löw briefly picks his nose again in the build up just adds a further dimension of greatness to it.
 

 
10. Can’t think of a proper 10.

2. England has the same national anthem as Liechtenstein. Or is it the other way round?

3. There is room for improvement in Germany’s passing game. The timing and accuracy of passes was overall a bit off – especially over long stretches of the first half. Not that Liechtenstein could take any advantage and Germany usually managed to keep possession anyway, or win the ball back a couple of seconds later. But I had the feeling that a better opponent could have once again frustrated Germany like Norway and England did. A little bit more creativity could have helped offset some inaccuracies, though unless you equal an abundance of back heel passes with creativity, there was also room for improvement in this area of Germany’s game. All nagging aside, the team also strung together this great move to score the third goal:
 

 
4. Mario Gomez can’t even score against Liechtenstein and that’s just sad. He also had the most chances of any German player to score, which makes everything even more depressing. The fans in the stadium eventually started booing him, which again is plain stupid. A player in severe need of a confidence boost gets singled out and booed by the crowd in a rather meaningless game against Liechtenstein – what’s the point? Anyway, for shits and giggles here are the combined club and country stats for the current 2008/2009 season:
1. Miroslav Klose – 42 games, 23 goals, 12 assists, 0,83 scorer points per game
2. Mario Gomez – 44 games, 25 goals, 9 assists, 0,77 scorer points per game
3. Patrick Helmes – 35 games, 21 goals, 5 assists, 0,74 scorer points per game
4. Lukas Podolski – 30 games, 11 goals, 5 assists, 0,53 scorer points per game

5. Lukas Podolski can score against Liechtenstein. But that has never been his problem anyway. He’ll probably would have been better off not scoring, since he is always accused that his impressive goal tally for Germany is all down to the bi-annual games against the tiniest of football nations. He has now scored 32 goals and equalled Klaus Fischer’s Germany record. Though the latter played 16 fewer games and earned his hall of fame status with his overabundance of bicycle kicks resulting in goals like this one (vs. Switzerland 1977) or this one (vs. France WC semi-final 1982). He also scored them in the Bundesliga or when they weren’t given by the referee or when he was already 40 years old. Podolski might soon leave him behind in the rankings, but he still needs to do a few more special things to earn the same status as Fischer.

6. Michael Ballack had a good game, while taking into account that it was still only against Liechtenstein, and that he also racked up a good amount of bad passes. But overall he really pulled the strings and ran the show in midfield and also scored this spectacular goal:
 

 
7. When I was talking about the improvable passing and creativity I was also thinking about Thomas Hitzelsperger. He could have scored a great goal with a volley from a Schweinsteiger free kick, had Michael Ballack not given the ball the wrong deflection. But otherwise I was a bit disappointed by his effort. He had few ideas, and the few he had usually ended up in interceptable passes through the middle. He couldn’t really take advantage of Frings’ absence.

8. Marcell Jansen started in midfield for a change, where he is currently excelling at Hamburg. He scored a goal and hit the crossbar and overall confirmed his good club form. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of co-op action with Philipp Lahm though, but that might have also been just because Lahm decided to take it easy that evening. I was still overall more impressed by the recent Lahm/Trochowski/Marin combos on the pitch. I would still like to see him get another chance against Wales.

9. Andreas Beck got another chance to stake his claim on Germany’s deserted right-back position. He obviously had little to do defensively and was a bit uninspired going forward, albeit very motivated and active. He currently doesn’t have a lot of serious competitors on his position though, unless Lahm suddenly decides that he rather wants to play as right-back again.

10. Bastian Schweinsteiger had a valid penalty claim, one which certainly nobody will remember, unless maybe Germany misses out on qualification by a single goal. Apart from that, he also had a lively game and the fact that Lahm and Jansen didn’t really connect, meant that for once Germany’s right flank was the more dominant one.

Indeed Germany ends the year with a good foundation for 2009 and the rest of the qualification campaign.

With the strong international debut of Rene Adler, Germany has a worthy No. 1 keeper for 2010. (Oliver Kahn thinks so.) In midfield Trochowski has finally lived up to his potential with a string of solid performances and has undoubtedly solidified his standing as a permanent fixture in the Nationalelf. Bastian Schweinsteiger is also continuing his motivated contributions demonstrated by his overall world-class interplay, an excellent assist against Russia, and his constant danger against Wales. Not to be outdone, Michael Ballack has returned from injury (and is injured again) to demonstrate his continued importance to the team. With the blood-letting in attack, Germany has come closer to resolving its striker problems. A strong showing from both Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose against Russia was complemented with promising signs from Mario Gomez and Patrick Helmes. In defense Per Mertesacker, who provided a crucial block against Wales, is closer to regaining his full form and Phillip Lahm is continuing to show his attacking prowess and defensive awareness down the flanks.

Of course some problems persist and must be corrected before Germany is ready for 2010, and realistically automatic qualification.

First, the headaches in defense continue. Lahm is prone to the odd and costly mistake, but in reality he is being overworked in defense. Without Marcell Jansen, Lahm must play every crucial Germany (and Bayern) match and this can not help his overall fitness. Lahm looked tired near the end against Wales and was beaten on the right-side of the pitch for a critical moment. Of course Lahm made a last-ditch effort whereas the actual right-back Clemens Fritz (out of position and also to blame) had done little to hinder the Welsh counter. Arne Friedrich did better than Fritz before being substituted but was at times also unable to close the defensive gap. Similarly Heiko Westermann (despite his improvement) needs more experience as his defensive positioning and decision making (notably against Russia) has been sub-standard.

With Keivn Kurányi’s shameful departure it seems the solution has been found to Germany’s attack rotation. The question remains though how consistent Klose and even Podolski can be. Helmes does look promising but wasted some clear opportunities against Wales. Gomez (now more of a threat) is on the other hand still missing the form he has at club level.

Finally, in midfield Germany needs a defensive midfielder who can control difficult situations when the attack is lethargic or the defense is vulnerable. So far this has been Lahm’s job. Simon Rolfes has not been given enough time to play and Torsten Frings due to injury (and perhaps now through sulking) has also been sitting on the bench. Thomas Hitzlsperger has not been criticized for his performances (limited to the occasional wide-non-goal and passing ball) but he is clearly not comfortable in his position. Whenever the tide turns against Germany, Hitzlsperger looks a tad helpless. Indeed when the odds are against Germany and open to a decisive counter-attack (remember that only loss in Dortmund), we need more than just another passer. We need a Dietmar Hamann of 2005 AC-Milan beating vintage. Indeed we are missing someone who can consistently marshal and anchor the inexperienced defense. For the moment Frings (like Ballack) can only come up older and more injury prone.

Luckily on all fronts there is hope primarily from the youth setup. We have contenders, alternatives, and replacements. Not to mention yet another world-class goalie in Manuel Neuer.

Fabio Capello has decided to field promising youngsters for the friendly in Berlin. Let’s hope Jogi Löw does the same.

So, naturally, this nice co-op goal by Lahm and Marin during Germany’s friendly against Belgium invited thoughts about some Euro 2008 what ifs…
 

 
Though, except for the goal, it had been a rather labored victory (2-0) over a compact Belgium team.

Klinsmann doesn’t have fond memories of this tournament though, as he was disappointed by the poor chemistry and team spirit within the squad. It was a valuable lesson and team spirit and chemistry were key elements for Klinsmann when he guided Germany to the Euro 1996 title as captain on the pitch and to a third place finish in the 2006 World Cup as coach on the sideline.

See also: Classic Goals: Jürgen Klinsmann vs Bayern Munich (1987)

This is also your great last chance to share your favourite moments of the tournament with the readers of this blog.

Best Comedy Act: A tie between Germany’s defence and David Odonkor’s performance on the right side of midfield against Croatia.

Special Achievement in Jersey Technology: Jens Lehmann for wearing a neon jersey, which left a glowing spot on my TV screen long after the games had ended. Mad Jens proved that he is also a mad scientist, as neon coloured jerseys are scientifically rumoured to irritate penalty takers. Lehmann didn’t need to save a single penalty, but his jersey still managed to irritate Germany’s defenders.

Most consistent player: Torsten Frings – consistently grumpy.

Stick it to the man Award: Lukas Podolski scoring three goals, setting up another two and sticking it to Uli Hoeness and whoever was involved in bringing him to Bayern.

Vanity Fair Moment: Oliver Bierhoff and Michael Ballack getting into an argument after the final. The media assumes it was about some silly banner for the fans. In reality Oliver Bierhoff was just jealous that Ballack had overtaken him in Germany’s all-time top scorer ranking (Bierhoff: 37 goals / Ballack: 38 goals – insane amount for a midfielder by the way)

Best Kevin Kuranyi Impersonation: Mario Gomez

Best Free Kick: Michael Ballack
 

 
Most beautiful WAG: Sarah Brandner (Bastian Schweinsteiger)

Most powerful WAG: Angela Merkel (Bastain Schweinsteiger again)

Breakthrough Performance: Marko Marin – until he was sent packing again.

All-expenses paid holiday trip won by: Heiko Westermann and Piotr Trochowski

Best Team Goal: Klose > Podolski > Ballack > Podolski > Ballack > Podolski > Schweinsteiger > Goal
 

 
Best Villian: Manuel Mejuto after sending Jogi Löw to the stands during the match against Austria.

Best Coach in a Supporting Role: Hansi “Slick” Flick guiding Germany to their best performance of the tournament.

Franz Beckenbauer’s moment of truth: “This team puzzles me.”

Best Impression of Martin Scorsese at the Oscars: Michael Ballack (i.e. there’s still hope)

Best Individual Goal: Philipp Lahm (with some help from Thomas Hitzelsperger)
 

 
OK, I better stop now, I feel nostalgia is kicking in – despite some critique worthy things it wasn’t too bad a tournament for Germany.