On paper, it was difficult to see anything other than a Germany win against Ukraine on Sunday night. While the world champions were under pressure in segments of the game, Jogi Low’s side had enough about them to get their Euro 2016 campaign up and running with a vital three points. They now go into Thursday’s meeting with rivals Poland with their heads held high as they aim to open up a three-point gap at the summit of Group C.
While the match will perhaps be best remembered for Jerome Boateng’s wonderful goal line clearance, Germany had Toni Kroos to thank for their victory against Ukraine. Granted, goals from Shkodran Mustafi and Bastian Schweinsteiger either side of half time clinched a vital three points in their quest to become the third team to hold the World Cup and European Championship at the same, but Kroos - for want of a better phrase - pulled the strings in midfield.
The Real Madrid midfielder provided the assist for Mustafi’s opener with a wonderful free kick midway through the first half and generally controlled the tempo in the middle of the park. Indeed, it was little shock to see the 26-year-old awarded the WhoScored man of the match award with a rating of 9.41; only Dimitri Payet (9.59) has gained better of all players in the first round of fixtures at Euro 2016 thus far.
A wholly successful season for Real Madrid saw him end the campaign with 10 league assists, his best return in a single season, helping gain a WhoScored rating of 7.33. While Luka Modric often wins the plaudits for his performances in midfield for the Spanish giants, Kross is an efficient midfielder alongside the Croat. He’s since continued his good club form for country and excelled against Ukraine.
He averaged the most passes per game (75.8) and the best pass success rate (93.9%) in Spain’s top tier last term, further highlighting his statistically calculated WhoScored strength of ‘passing’. He maintained his excellent passing range with a 93.6% pass success rate from 109 passes against Ukraine. To some, he’s perhaps considered the unsung hero in this Germany side, and he is certainly comfortably one of Low’s more important players.
Alongside Sami Khedira in the double-pivot to shield the defence, Kroos worked effortlessly to press and probe the Ukraine defence, creating angles for himself to help maintain pressure on the opposition. A vast majority of those may have been short passes to a Germany teammate, but this only meant Ukraine were forced to exert their energy to close down a different player, meaning Kroos could pull away from his marker.
With opponents switching their attention, it allowed Kroos to move into a better position to receive the ball again. This helped open up space to allow Kroos to utilise his distribution ability. Of the 13 long balls the midfielder attempted, Kroos found a teammate with 12 - more than any outfielder at the competition so far - allowing for Germany to stretch the Ukraine defence, a tack that, as the scoreline suggests, worked.
Yet it wasn’t just simple passing for the sake of passing from Kroos that helped Germany to victory. Yes, Die Mannschaft controlled proceedings with a 60.8% possession share, in part due to Kroos’ influence in the middle of the park, but he also did his utmost to unlock the Ukraine defence. Only Payet (8), Marouane Fellaini (7) and David Silva (6) have played more key passes than Kroos (5) at Euro 2016 so far.
If Germany are to go on and win the trophy, the hope now is that Kroos can continue his good performances for the national team, starting first with the meeting with Poland. They are expected to pose a stronger threat than Ukraine, especially with Arkadiusz Milik dropping deeper and Grzegorz Krychowiak pressing the opposition, meaning space will be at a premium for Kroos.
This will be his and Germany’s first real test at Euro 2016 as Poland - despite the win over Northern Ireland being their first at a European Championship - certainly pose a threat. At the hub for Germany will again be Kroos. He’s formed a solid partnership alongside Khedira at the base of the German midfield as he controls the tempo in games. If he can do so again against Poland on Thursday, then Germany will secure their place in the knockout stages of France 2016.
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