Thomas Mueller scored twice as Germany kicked off its World Cup qualifying campaign with a 3-0 win over Norway, but Joachim Loew was left questioning why the Bayern Munich forward was unable to find the net at Euro 2016.
>WC qualifiers: Mueller, Kimmich fire Germany past Norway
Despite scoring five goals during Germany's successful World Cup campaign in 2014, Mueller drew a blank in France as Loew's men were eliminated at the semifinal stage — his missed penalty in a shoot-out victory over Italy in the last eight went unpunished.
And after Mueller starred in a dominant win for the defending champions in Oslo, where Joshua Kimmich also got his name on the scoresheet, Loew joked that the player's eye for goal had arrived a few months too late.
"We played very confidently," said Low. "Norway did not come into play at all and had no opportunities to score."
"For Thomas Mueller, I would have preferred it if he would have scored some goals at the European Championship!"
"He worked a lot and had many chances but did not score any goals."
"Of course there are things for us to improve — efficiency, for example, was the big problem against France [in the Euro 2016 semifinals]."
Mario Goetze was perhaps the only German player to disappoint on Sunday, but Loew urged patience after the attacker's return to Borussia Dortmund following a disappointing spell with Bayern.
"Mario Gotze obviously needs a bit of time," he added. "You can tell that the match practice is lacking. He needs a few games to bring back what is expected of him."
Comments
SHARE