Miroslav Klose, Thomas Mueller and Mesut Oezil may be getting more headlines but the man who is really making Germany’s astonishing World Cup run happen is Bastian Schweinsteiger.
The Bayern Munich midfielder formerly known as “Schweini” finally has his preferred role in central midfield for club and country.
Schweinsteiger is the link between defence and attack, and at 25 years of age (but with now 79 caps) he is also the link between youngsters such as Oezil and veterans like Klose.
Schweinsteiger played what many believe was the match of his life on Saturday when he helped neutralise Lionel Messi and set up two goals in the awesome 4-0 quarterfinal demolition of Argentina in Cape Town.
Mueller headed home his free-kick early on, and Schweinsteiger later danced through the Argentina defence to feed Arne Friedrich for the third.
British newspaper The Guardian named him “the best midfielder in this competition,” Argentina’s Clarin called him “simply formidable” and in Germany the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung said he was “the epicentre of the German game.” Former Germany midfielder Guenter Netzer, in his column for the Bild am Sonntag paper, called Schweinsteiger “the outstanding man” on the pitch.
So big was his game that the BBC could only acknowledge that the reigning World Footballer of the Year “Messi ... was completely overshadowed in midfield by Bastian Schweinsteiger.”
Schweinsteiger was named Man of the Match and coach Joachim Loew was raving as well about the player he last week named “the heart and the motor” of the team.
“Schweinsteiger is world class; there is hardly any other midfielder on this level. He is irreplaceable,” said Loew on Saturday.
The men who helped him transform from talented “Schweini” to the star Schweinsteiger are Munich coach Louis van Gaal and injured German captian Michael Ballack.
Van Gaal brought Schweinsteiger from the flanks to the strategic central role in midfield and be became a key figure in Bayern’s league and cup double and Champions League final campaign. No Bundesliga player had more ball contacts, the statistics show.
The ankle injury to Ballack in May then allowed Loew to follow suit, moving Schweinsteiger to the same central position for Germany by taking over Ballack’s role.
Schweinsteiger and his midfield partner Sami Khedira had only one tune-up game, a 3-1 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina in late May, to get used to the new roles.
Schweinsteiger scored twice from the spot on that day and there were initial indications of the fast football the team has now dazzled the world with in South Africa.
Germany have put four goals past opponents three times now at the World Cup, the others being a 4-0 over Australia in the group stage and 4-1 over England in the round of 16. Unlike past teams, which won three titles, Germany are playing the best football in South Africa.
“This was one of the best performances I have ever seen from a German team,” said Netzer, while French newspaper Le Parisien said that “Germany are the symbol of a new era” in football.
The Guardian praised Loew’s courage in what it called “self-reinvention on a scale unknown in recent European football ... From the old mechanical Germany has emerged a youthful majesty.”
Millions of Germans are watching in utter amazement as the team has turned into a top contender ahead of the semifinal with Spain in another step towards possible immortality.
“Thank You, you heroes,” screamed the front page headline in Bild am Sonntag . “The historic 4-0 against Argentina. Keep this edition for your grandchildren,” it said.
