GDANSK, Poland — Watch out for a blast on the field the next time Germany plays at the European Championship.
Germany coach Joachim Loew says playmaker Mesut Oezil will “explode” in the quarterfinals against Greece.
The
Real Madrid midfielder has had a quiet tournament so far, but Loew
expects Oezil to improve dramatically on Friday in Gdansk.
“The big explosion of Oezil will still come,” Loew said. “At the 2010 World Cup it also happened after the group stage.
“I have the feeling that it’s coming now again.”
Oezil
did not train with the team Tuesday, but Loew did not explain why. But
the coach said Oezil — plus Lars Bender and Bastian Schweinsteiger, who
also missed training — would be fit for Friday’s game.
In
Germany’s three wins so far, Oezil had one assist. He was voted man of
the match in the opening 1-0 win over Portugal, although the goal came
from Mario Gomez.
“What’s been missing from his game is to be open more of the time and to pass more in the attack,” Loew said.
One
of the best aspects of Oezil’s game is his ability to split defenses
with passes into space, something that he’s rarely displayed so far at
this tournament.
But Loew also praised Oezil for covering a lot of ground in all his matches. Oezil is considered Germany’s most creative player.
Oezil
played a major role in Germany’s demolitions of England (4-1) and
Argentina (4-0) at the World Cup in South Africa two years ago. He also
scored the only goal against Ghana that secured Germany’s slot in the
knockout stage.
Born in Gelsenkirchen to Turkish parents, Oezil
got his first professional contract at 17 and played 30 Bundesliga
matches as a teenager for Schalke.
He later moved to Werder Bremen and scored the winning goal in the German Cup final over Bayer Leverkusen in 2009.
He
was “man of the match” in the final of the Under-21 European
Championship when Germany beat England and made his full Germany debut
the same year, 2009. In 36 games for Germany, he has scored eight goals.
