Schweinsteiger’s passes, Gomez’ goals

At Euro 2012, Bayern striker Mario Gomez has picked up where he left off in domestic football. The 26-year-old has scored 80 goals in his last two seasons with Bayern, and crashed home both Germany’s goals in a 2-1 win over the Netherlands on Wednesday evening, pushing his total for his country up to 25.

The striker’s celebrations in Kharkiv were, however, muted. “I was really delighted, but it was a bit dumb that both goals came at the Dutch end,” reported Gomez. “I ran off towards the fans, but spotted that it was a wall of orange,” said the FCB man, who was determined not to provoke the Dutch fans. Instead, Gomez turned round and shared his joy with his own team-mates.

Clinical finishing

Thanks to his haul of two goals from two chances, Mario is now up to three goals for the tournament, leaving the Germans needing only a point from their third match against Denmark to win Group B. “We know just what we have with Mario. He’s proved it again with two world-class goals,” said captain Philipp Lahm. “For the first goal, his first touch was sensational. As for the second, not everyone finds the corner of the net from that angle.”

On the day after the game, the international media were full of praise for the Man of the Match. “In Mario Gómez, Germany have the striker the other teams lack. Gómez is the centre-forward of the Euro, the centre-forward of Europe,” declared Spanish paper As. Denmark’s Ekstra Bladet said: “There’s no suggestion that Gomez has celebrated for the last time at this tournament.”

Superb understanding

In the sweaty heat of Kharkiv on Wednesday evening, Gomez benefited from the vision and precision of Bastian Schweinsteiger. Prior to the Netherlands clash, the pair spent time together in an apartment at the Metalist Kharkiv club facility. “We tuned into each other’s wavelength. Two assists from Basti. That’s what I’m always waiting for, the passes into the channels,” enthused Gomez.