Splendid goals could be seen in the Stuttgart stadium even before the World Cup qualifier against Armenia kicked off. The DFB once again remembered the late Gerd Müller and showed a few testimonials of his great work on the video walls; the German national team formed at the center circle looked on in awe. Considering the latest appearance in the hard-earned 2-0 win against Liechtenstein, one or the other might have thought that a second miller could still be used today. Especially since the other miller, Thomas, was sitting in the stands in civilian clothes, out of consideration for the pinching adductors.
Well, on Sunday evening there was no reason to ask for one or the other miller. Hansi Flick celebrated the first notable success with his new team in the second game. In the 6-0 win against Armenia, not only was the number of hits correct, but also the aesthetic note. Germany presented itself as the coach and the increasingly critical nation wished for: lively and fast, imaginative and happy to play. “Today the chances were exploited much better. We were good in front of the goal, we could have done even more,” said two-time goalscorer Serge Gnabry on RTL. The national coach was also impressed. “It was the next step that we took,” said Flick: “We have an enormous quality, you could see that today.” In addition to the grateful applause of the 18,000 visitors, the reward was a promotion to first place in Group J.
When comparing the game against Liechtenstein, an astonishing effect emerged after just a few minutes. The playing field in Stuttgart looked about twice as large as the area on which the two teams had played in St. Gallen. The optical illusion was due to the adversary.
Armenia stepped onto the pitch in the consciousness of a league leader and obviously had no intention of merely limiting the damage, following the example of the new German feared opponent Liechtenstein. The men in the orange-yellow uniforms had apparently come up with the plan to attack the allegedly mentally damaged favorite in his living room. The first attack of the game rolled towards Manuel Neuer at remarkable speed, who was back in goal instead of Bernd Leno, but did not have to intervene. Henrikh Mkhytarian put the shot well over the target.
There are exciting moments against Armenia every minute
For the Germans this attack was a warning shot, but above all it was a nice signal. The opponent had come to play along and not to build a human wall in their own penalty area like the amateurs from the principality did. The courage of the Armenians thus turned out to be arrogance. With the space they granted by their forward thrust, they invited the German team to rediscover the pleasure in the game that they had often longed for in vain in the end. If it weren’t so kitschy, one could speak of the winds of change and freedom that blew through the Stuttgart stadium, which was warm in summer.
Hansi Flick had swapped half of the eleven, apart from Neuer, Jonas Hofmann also joined the starting team as right-back, Antonio Rüdiger, Leon Goretzka, Serge Gnabry and Marco Reus. The latter gave the impression that Flick had ordered him from manager Oliver Bierhoff: Reus played in the center of the attacking midfield like an expensive access, his calm, timing and skill were pleasantly noticed again and again.
This time the Germans didn’t need to try to find their game. There were exciting moments every minute. A gripping solo effort by Gnabry in the Hans-Peter-Briegel style (4th minute) was followed by a corner kick that Thilo Kehrer put on the crossbar (5th), and then Gnabry made it 1-0, which Goretzka masterfully unlocked would have. Ten minutes later the same Gnabry again celebrated his patented painter jubilation, this time Reus had put on the ball. As so often on that evening, the extraordinarily enterprising Leroy Sané had earned his share of the booty.
While the Armenians became increasingly desperate at their superior opponent who simply did not want to stop chasing further goals, the viewers, who were given free tickets by the DFB, enjoyed their present right up to the end.
Reus (35th), Werner (44th), Hofmann with a remarkable sight shot (52nd) and the substitute newcomer Karim Adeyemi (90th) increased the account, in between Rüdiger staged an exciting sprint duel between Adamyan and Neuer with an all too tight return . The German goalkeeper was faster. One goal should actually have been left to the Armenians – they were the grateful opponent the Germans had wished for.