Thoughts on Germany-Costa Rica

Jurgen Klinsmann has taken lots of criticism for his attacking style and his decision to continue to live in California while managing the national team. . While the critics may continue to persist, Klinsmann’s Germany side scored 4 goals today and beat Coast Rica 4-2. Miroslav Klose picked up where he left off in the last World Cup with 2 goals. I was also very impressed with Torsten Frings, not only for his rocket goal but for his command of the midfield with Michael Ballack missing. However, Costa Rica looked dangerous going forward and Klinsmann must consider making adjustments at the back to contain speedy strikers that the Germans may face in the future.

Paulo Wanchope scored twice and was just offsides a few other times where he easily got behind the German defense. I had made the mistake in the Group A preview of a few weeks back of saying that Wanchope had lost some speed and his best days were behind him. Clearly based on today’s performance I was wrong and Costa Rica despite dropping the opener has a decent shot of advancing through the group stage. Douglas Sequeira who plays in MLS for Real Salt Lake had a good game for Costa Rica as he took Lukas Podolski, the Germany wonderkid out of the match almost entirely. Jose Porras made two goalkeeping errors for Costa Rica one of which resulted in a devastating second half goal by Klose, which ultimately changed the game. The World Cup as we all know can turn on a dime or one minor goalkeeping error.

Both teams played well, and Costa Rica certainly has enough offensive firepower to feel good about their chances in the final two games. Germany is obviously one of the world’s elite teams and they showed it again today.