Euro 2012 qualifiers
October 12, 2010
Germany ran out 3-0 winners against Kazakhstan on Tuesday, making it four wins from four qualifiers for the 2012 European Championships.
The Kazakhs held die Mannschaft for the first 45 minutes of the encounter, but were unable to stem the Germans’ flow of attacking football in the second half.
The first goal came from Miroslav Klose, who, finding the net for the third time in two games, slotted home three minutes after the break.
Substitute Mario Gomez added a second goal in the 78th minute and Lukas Podolski put the final touch on the score line five minutes from fulltime.
The victory puts Germany at the top of their group on 12 points, five clear of their nearest rival Austria, who played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with Belgium in Tuesday's late game. The loss leaves Kazakhstan bottom of the group with zero points.
Germany Coach Joachim Loew said that he was pleased with the result: "We achieved what we wanted to do, but obviously some errors occurred."
"We have 12 points. That is what we wanted, so I have to be satisfied. What the team managed to achieve this year has been great, I can't expect them to be brilliant in every game," he said.
"We have a lead at the top and that is comfortable, but we still need to win a few games before we can plan for the finals."
In the third Group A game played Tuesday, Azerbaijan pulled off a shock 1-0 win at home over a much-fancied Turkey, who earlier in the week had gone down to Germany in Berlin.
The Euro 2012 Championships are to be held in Poland and Ukraine.
Author: Darren Mara
Editor: Nicole Goebel