International Friendlies: Germany 6 - 1 Armenia; Reus suffers injury, gets taken off

Marco Reus limps off with an injury

Germany squared up against Armenia in their last game before they kick off their world cup campaign against Portugal in less than 10 days time. After their disappointing draw against Cameroon, Loew made 3 changes to his team which saw Schurrle, Howedes and Lahm coming back into the staring XI in place of Gotze, Ozil and Drum.

The ‘False 9’ formation and this starting XI seems to be Loew’s preferred tactic and combination for the World cup, with Klose to be used as more of an impact player or a super sub. The return of Lahm to full fitness would be the most encouraging for Loew as he looks to play the captain in the middle of the park with Khedira.

A frenetic start to the game saw both Germany and Armenia missing golden opportunities to open the scoring, with Muller and Ghazaryan missing from 12 yards out respectively. After the initial 10 minutes Germany dominated the game both in possession as well as creating goal scoring opportunities. The front four of Schurrle, Reus, Kroos and Muller were a nightmare for the Armenian defense as they confounded them with intelligent runs and continuous swapping of positions.

A host of chances were missed by Germany throughout the first half with Reus guilty of missing the best chance when he was through on goal.

The half though ended on a sour note for Reus as he had to be helped off the pitch after picking up an injury which hopefully is not too serious.

Germany finally managed to break the deadlock in the 53rd minute when Schurrle found the net from six yards out after some quick play from Podolski on the left.

Mkhitaryan converted from the penalty spot for Armenia in 69th minute after Kevin Grosskreutz gave away the penalty with a reckless challenge. After the penalty though it was all one way traffic as Germany steamrolled Armenia with a goal fest.

An 18 minute blitz saw Germany score 5 goals. Podolski started it by scoring the 2nd in the 71st minute after a defense splitting pass from Ozil. Benedikt Howedes scored the 3rd goal of an intelligent cross from Schweinsteiger.

Miroslav Klose came on to score his 69th goal for Germany to become their highest ever goal scorer, while the 22-year-old Mario Goetze grabbed two late chances to bag himself a brace.

This was definitely a performance that Loew would have wanted of his team. The introduction of Podolski, Ozil and more importantly Schweinsteiger in the second half proved to be the difference and Germany looked like the team that will be heading to Brazil as one of the favorites.

UPDATE: It has been confirmed that Marco Reus has suffered a partial tear of the anterior ligament above the left ankle. He could be out for upto 6 weeks.