Germany-Kazakhstan Preview and a round of Predict That Score

March 25th, 2011 | by: Anne | Comments Off

Germany takes on Kazakhstan in a Group A EURO 2012 qualifying match tomorrow, March 26^th, at 3:00 PM EST (8:00 PM CET). The match will be broadcast on ESPN Deportes and streamed on ESPN3, and we will be following along with the action with a live blog here, so drop by and join the fun!

Preview

The match will take place at the Betzenberg in Kaiserslautern, and the 47,849 seat stadium is already sold out so there should be a good atmosphere. There isn’t much to preview in terms of Kazakhstan – they have 4 losses out of 4 EURO qualifying matches, and have scored a grand total of 0 goals while conceding 10. Our record, if you need reminding, is the polar opposite – 4 wins in 4, with 13 goals scored and only 1 conceded. Our last EQ match against Kazakhstan, back in October, ended 0-3 to Germany with second half goals from Klose, Gomez, and Podolski. That Gomez goal hailed something of a renaissance for the striker, who has been extremely prolific for Bayern ever since. Podolski’s goal also came amid a slew of questions about his form, but Goldi Poldi has caught fire for Köln after receiving the armband, and comfortably retains his starting spot. That game also saw the absence of Schweinsteiger due to a foot injury. This time around, the Bayern contingent is still in something of a crisis, but at least none are hurt anymore.

The notable bit of news about Kazakhstan is that their most threatening player, Heinrich Schmidtgal, who plays for the 2. Bundesliga side Oberhausen, is out with an injury. No disrespect to Kazakhstan, but this blow means there really isn’t anything to worry about for a full strength German squad.

A win is an absolute must to continue the 100% EQ record and qualify for 2012 as soon as possible. But as Löw and Bierhoff have been saying over the last few days, victory is by no means the only goal here. Bierhoff said that they wish to entertain the fans (I have no objections!) but more importantly, this is seen as yet another chance to evaluate players at various positions, build team chemistry, and continue to hone a philosophy while bringing new players into the fold. A curious pronouncement that Löw made yesterday is that every player in the squad (which is 22 strong) will get a chance to play 90 minutes, which means that we will see two completely distinct starting XIs against Kazakhstan and Australia. This could go one of two ways – either the entire first choice XI starts against Kazakhstan and Australia is entirely experimental, or a few newbies get their shot in an EQ and some stalwarts are retained to form an experienced backbone against Australia. I’m really not sure which we’ll see. Löw has stated that Klose, Podolski, and Mertesacker are certain to start against Kazakhstan, while Schürrle will start against Australia.  I believe the Kazakhstan XI will be skewed towards first choice (see above re: absolutely must win) but there may be a few experimental selections, such as Götze or Träsch. As usual, the hugest question marks are in defense. Friedrich has match fitness this time around, unlike against Italy when he had only recently returned from injury, so will we see the Mertesacker-Friedrich pairing for the first time in 2011? Will Hummels get the nod? I also hope that Schmelzer will get to play the whole 90 against Kazakhstan, as Aogo didn’t exactly plant a flag in the LB position during his run out against Italy, and Schmelzer could really make an impression if given a chance to play alongside the first choice guys. He and Podolski haven’t had a run out together so I’d be eager to see how they combine on the left wing. Sven Bender remains the only uncapped kid in this squad, having sat on the bench against Italy, but he seems set to get his first cap this week.

Prediction

This is one of the strongest Germany squads we’ve seen yet – no significant injuries, and some of the hottest rising talents in the Bundesliga included for the first time in a competitive match. It’s hard to envision anything other than a domineering performance. How about we play a little prediction game – comment with predictions for the score AND goal-scorers! The closest will get… brownie points and a lock of Mario Gomez’s hair. Hey, I never claimed this operation was in any way respectable. For my prediction, I will tip goals from Podolski, Özil, and a framing brace from Klose to give a final score of:

Germany 4-0 Kazakhstan