Gomez hands Germany injury worry, Oezil to start

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(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-08 10:47

BERLIN: Striker Mario Gomez handed Germany a World Cup qualifying headache on Sunday when he pulled up with a knee injury while highly-rated winger Mesut Oezil was confirmed as a starter for tomorrow's clash with Azerbaijan.

Gomez hands Germany injury worry, Oezil to start

Gomez and 20-year-old Werder Bremen player Oezil scored in Saturday's 2-0 friendly win over South Africa.

Coach Joachim Loew used the speed of Oezil and fellow 20-year-old winger Marko Marin to exploit space down the flanks for lone striker Gomez against South Africa.

"My team did well both in terms of result and performance," said Loew, who criticized his team last month when it struggled to a 2-0 win over Azerbaijan in Baku in the first Group Four meeting between the two countries. "That was a clear improvement in relation to our past few games, we were more fluid on the ball. We have been together for a week now and you could see the benefits of the extra training.

"There are still a few things which don't fit into the way we play.

"There is still some room for improvement in defense, Arne Friedrich and Heiko Westermann put in good claims for their center-back places. Our structure has improved greatly."

Oezil put in the most eye-catching performance of the night having been handed his first start for Germany and Loew singled him out for praise before adding the youngster will start against Azerbaijan.

"Mesut Oezil brought a lot of creativity and was technically excellent, he has a good eye and can produce some dangerous situations for us," said the coach. "He played very well in attack but he still has things to learn on tracking back, but I am very happy with his performance. I assume he will start against Azerbaijan."