Germany are off to a flying start in qualifying for Euro 2012 with maximum points from their first two matches. After defeating Belgium 1-0 in Brussels last Friday, Joachim Löw’s side beat Azerbaijan 6-1 in Cologne on Tuesday evening and now lead Group A ahead of the showdown with Turkey, who also have six points, at the Berlin Olympic stadium on 8 October.
A 43,751 crowd at the RheinEnergie stadium saw a high-paced and inventive display from the home side, who settled the outcome before half-time with goals from Heiko Westermann (28), Lukas Podolski (45+1) and Miroslav Klose (45+3). Rashad Sadigov put through his own goal on 53 minutes, before Holger Badstuber (86) and Klose (90+2) made it half-a dozen. Vaqif Cavadov pulled one back for Azerbaijan on 57 minutes after beating keeper Manuel Neuer direct from a corner.
Energetic and enjoyable
“We’ve scored six goals, so I think we can be satisfied,” commented Germany captain Philipp Lahm, “the team is enjoying its football and scoring goals, as we’ve all seen tonight.” Löw was understandably pleased with his men: “Our passing was fantastic at times. It's good to see the players combine so well. It's also good that we kept playing football even after going 3-0 up.”
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