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With the surprise exclusion of Mario Gomez and Lukas Podolski, Low ensured that his German side did not become too predictable. But he need not have bothered as the Greeks seemed to have decided that a quaterfinal appearance was good enough and did not put up much of a show. In the end, when the game ended 4-2 in favour of Germany, the only discussion point was how many more should the Germans have scored. Here we take a look at the player ratings in the game.
Germany
Manuel Neuer – 6/10
Didn’t have much to do throughout the game. Did concede 2 goals, one of which was a penalty. He should have been more decisive with the first goal as he, along with his defenders, allowed Samaras to get to the ball and score.
Jerome Boateng – 6/10
Had a mixed game. Was partly responsible in allowing Samaras get ahead of him to score the first goal and also conceded a penalty late in the game. At the other end, he was putting in some teasing crosses and got an assist through Khedira’s goal.
Mats Hummels – 7/10
As usual, had an impressive game. Put in important tackles whenever Greece did bother to break forward.
Holger Badstuber – 6/10
Did not have much to do throughout the game. But put in a good shift and broke up any attacks that were starting to build up.
Philipp Lahm – 8/10
Did a good job in defense, although he should have done better to ensure that the cross did not go through for the Samaras goal. Had a good attacking game and scored the first goal of the match.
Sami Khedira - 8.5/10
Was instrumental in ensuring that the attacks were fluid and dynamic. He scored a brilliant goal on the volley to ensure that Germany took the lead.
Bastian Schweinsteiger – 6/10
Even though he lost the ball quite a lot of times in the opening half an hour, he still managed to play an important role in the German midfield.
Marco Reus – 8/10
Had his first start in the competition and created a lot of chances in the final 3rd, which were wasted by his team mates. Scored the goal that sealed the game for Germany.
Mesut Özil – 9/10
A splendid performance from Özil, which ensured that the Greece did not have any hopes of creating an upset. Was the creative spark in all the attacks and maintained the flow with one touch football.
Andre Schürrle – 6/10
Had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half, but apart from that didn’t much throughout the game. Tried a few runs down the flanks but the end product was missing.
Miroslav Klose – 8/10
Once again showed why he is such a fantastic option to have up front. Was getting into all kinds of spaces and scored a goal from a corner to give Germany a 2 goal lead.
Substitutions:
Thomas Müller – 5/10
Mario Gomez – 5/10
Mario Gotze – 5/10
Greece
Michalis Sifakis – 5/10
Had a nightmare of a game after letting in 4 goals. Kept spilling the ball when it was hit forcefully at him, but was lucky that none of the German forwards were close by to take advantage.
Vassilas Torosidis – 5/10
Should have done better to close down Lahm for the opening goal, but otherwise did reasonably well in the game. He earned the penalty for Greece late in the game, but by then they had lost all hopes of winning.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos: 5/10
Tried his best in keeping the Germans at bay, but ultimately failed.
Kyriakos Papadopoulos: 5/10
Was caught out when Klose headed in the goal. Apart from that mistake, when compared with his team mates, he did a more than decent job in defence.
Georgios Tzavelas: 4/10
Had an altogether poor game and had to be replaced at half time. A night to forget.
Giannis Maniatis: 5/10
He was neither good in midfield nor in the defence, where he slotted in after halftime. Was completely dominated by the Germans.
Kostantinos Katsouranis: 6/10
Tried to start some counter attacks with through balls, but could not keep the tempo in the second half.
Dimitris Salpingidis: 7/10
The only shining light in Greece’s nightmare game. Ran down the right flank and delivered a pin point cross for Samaras to slot in the goal.
Grigorios Makos – 5/10
Did not do much in the game and was not involved in any of the attacks apart from one long range effort.
Sotirios Ninis – 5/10
Was as unimpressive in attack as the rest of the team and was substituted at half time.
Georgios Samaras – 6/10
Was involved in a lot of challenges in the early part of the game. Got a yellow card after only 15 minutes. Did well to get in front of the defence to score the goal.
Substitutes:
Giorgios Fotakis – 6/10
Theofanis Gekas – 5/10
Nikos Liberopoulos – 5/10
