In what was previously thought of as an easy run through for Germany, a tantalisingly close round of sixteen contest was fought courageously between Germany and Algeria, ending 2-1 to Germany after extra-time. Of Arsenal’s three Germans in Brazil, Lukas Podolski was unfortunately unavailable due to a thigh injury. Mesut Ozil and Per Mertesacker, however, both played the full 120 minutes with the former scoring the winning goal to send the three time world champions into the quarter-finals, where they will play France.
During the ruthless Algerian bombardment of Germany’s defence, Mertesacker did admirably to hold his own and stay composed. Unfortunately, he was unable to obtain his accustomed 95%+ pass completion, but impressively he completed ten successful clearances and four aerial duels. Despite his positive performance, the majority of responsibility for the ‘almost-clean-sheet’ must lie at the hands of Neuer. 'At the feet of Neuer', would be more appropriate in this instince, for Neuer often found himself roaming beyond the depths of the conventional keeper positions. As Algeria’s high-pressing game saw them neutralise several German attacks, Mertesacker’s lack of pace was inevitably exposed. Whenever searching balls did fly past the BFG, out came Neuer to the rescue. take note Szczesny. Whilst it is certainly unfair to blame poor Per for this, it is equally as important to recognise Neuer’s influence on Germany’s victory, who has only conceded three goals all tournament.
On the other end of the pitch, Mesut Ozil suffered a frustrating evening. Despite scoring the decisive goal, he was dispossessed three times and he often failed to capitalise on promising opportunities. In this aspect, it was a very untypical Mesut Ozil performance. On a more positive note he did deliver four key-passes, only bettered by Munich’s Toni Kroos, and showed glimpses of world-class quality to escape his marker on several occasions. His goal will only give him more confidence to carry Germany into the latter stages of the tournament.