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International Rewind: Germany trounces Ecuador; England draw with Ireland; and more

PodolskiGermanyEcuador1 (CtPost)

By DAN KARELL

Germany showed off their impressive depth on Wednesday afternoon, defeating 10th ranked Ecuador, 4-2, in the first of two friendly matches in the United States.

Missing a number of starters due to Bayern Munich’s participation in the German Cup and Borussia Dortmund’s recent participation in the Champions League final with Bayern, Joachim Löw’s side proved that they could play sublime soccer even without the likes of Mario Götze, Mesut Özil, and Sami Khedira in the midfield.

Longtime forward Lukas Podolski scored two of the German goals, including one just six seconds into the match, dispossessing Ecuadorian defender Gabriel Achilier at the top of the box before scoring the opener. The two goals have given the Arsenal forward 46 career goals for Germany, just one behind United States head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

Lars Bender scored easily with a simple finish in the 4th minute that all but ended the match, and again tallied in the 24th minute, putting the Germans up 4-0 inside the first quarter of the match.

Ecuador saved face with goals from Antonio Valencia and Walter Ayovi on either side of halftime, but they were never able to compete at Germany’s level during the match.

ENGLAND DRAW REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

On a day that was supposed to be a celebration of the FA’s 150th anniversary, England could only manage a 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday at Wembley Stadium.

The visitors were the first to find the back of the net as Seamus Coleman whipped in a curling ball that Shane Long deflected past Joe Hart for the game’s opener in the 13th minute. Just nine minutes later, England equalized due to the creativity of Daniel Sturridge, who found Frank Lampard in front of goal to tie the match up.

Wingers Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain both had chances on target that were well saved by Ireland goalkeeper David Forde, who made a total of seven saves on the Three Lions. Ashley Cole, who wore the captain’s armband on his 102nd cap, blasted over the bar from close range in the second half, ruining a great opportunity on goal.

COSTA RICA COMFORTABLY DEFEATS CANADA

A veteran Costa Rica side took care of business on Tuesday afternoon, defeating a new-look Canada side, 1-0, in Edmonton.

Jairo Arrieta scored the lone goal for Costa Rica, converting from the penalty spot in the 15th minute past the dive of Canada goalkeeper Milan Borjan, who was making just his 11th appearance with the Canucks.

15 of the 19 Canadians called into the squad had less than ten caps, and two players, Daniel Haber and Jonathan Osorio, each earned their first caps. The match ended on a sour note, with both teams going down to ten men in the 75th minute following a scuffle between Nik Legerwood and Christopher Meneses, the pair each earning red cards.

Comments

  1. It’s a bit pathetic to see fans of a nation of 63 million people that has invaded more countries than any other nation on the planet chanting “no surrender” to the fans of a nation of 4.5 million people that has never invaded anyone.

    Reply
    • I don’t know where you are living and where you got your knowledge, but:

      1. There are 80 million people living in Germany
      2. They never chant “no surrender” – trust me

      by the way: I am German and I live in Germany.

      Regarding the game: Germany will play with a B-squad (there is no C-squad), but never the less the players in the first eleven and on the bench are quite good. In general Germany starts with fast combinations (with a lot of ball-possession > 65 %, Belgium played similar) and scores a lot of goals in the first 45 minutes. Then, in the second half they give more space to the other team and slow down. Last year they draw against Sweden after leading 4:0. It will be pretty difficult for the US-team to win the game, but there is a good chance that they will score.

      Reply
      • I think the poster was talking about the England-Ireland match (although England’s population is closer to 50 million).

  2. I think that Belgium’s lineup vs. the US is better than the team Germany fielded because the Germans were missing a number of starters. So, who should be more concerned about losing 4-2—the US or Ecuador? And England being tied by Ireland in Wembley is very embarrassing for the UK. The only games that matter now are the WC qualifiers, so no reason to get very upset about the Belgium game.

    Reply
  3. Why was this played in the US? Was it just a special case because Germany was already planning to be in the states for the US game?

    Reply
    • seems to be the case.

      I’d have liked it in Munich or Dusseldorff.

      we need more friendlies in Europe. Play England at Wembley again right after the WORLD CUP.

      Or play Portugal/Czech Republic away.

      and some friendlies in South america.

      Reply
    • ecuador probably wanted to play in miami; anyone in Quito with money spends a lot of time in south florida, and germany was in the states… i would have expected better attendance there; probably could have been if it was a night game.

      Reply
  4. Germany also put 6 on Ireland last fall in a game — in Dublin. Lucky for us this won’t count except for poorly timed mental scars.

    About all we can do to stay sane for this one is channel Beavis and Butthead while saying the word, “nationalmannschaft.”

    Reply

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