JEURGEN KLINSMANN returned in triumph to the national colours yesterday. After missing Germany's opening victory over the Czech Republic through suspension, he pulled on the captain's armband and scored two of their three second half goals against a Russian side reduced to 10 men after the sending off of Yuri Kovtun, their toughest defender.
The manner of their victory can do nothing but enhance Germany's standing as tournament favourites. Absorbing the Russians' early efforts, they responded to the promptings of Andy Moller and increased the pressure in the second half. After their sweeper, Matthias Sammer, had opened the scoring, they saw the Russians crumble. More impressive going forward than in defence, Germany looked capable, thanks to Klinsmann, of scoring a lot more goals in the next fortnight.
Defeat for the Russians, the only team in Group C not to have won one of their first two fixtures, makes them virtual certainties for a flight home after their meeting with the Czechs in their final group fixture on Wednesday. As well as Kovtun, they will be missing Viktor Onokpo, who was booked for a second time in the tournament yesterday, and Evgeni Bushmanov, who was injured in the first match and has already departed. A Czech victory would leave Italy needing to beat Germany on the same night to give themselves a chance of staying in.
Afterwards the Russian coach, Oleg Romantsev, was highly critical of his team. "Some of my players were bad," he said. "Others were worse. We had no fighting spirit. I'm embarrassed by our results in the first two games.
No such problems for Klinsmann. "We're very happy," he said. "We had a few problems in the first half, but we knew that if we scored the first goal we'd win the game.
He was in the action straight away, spinning off Kovtun to win a throw in in the opening seconds. The long throw was hooked wide of Dmitri Kharine's right hand post by Thomas Helmer. The first Russian threat came from Igor Kolyvanov, whose effort from Ilya Tsimbalar's right wing corner was punched away by Andreas Kopke. A minute later a corner from the other side, taken by Alexander Mostovoi, was cleared to Tsimbalar, whose cross shot came back off the post for Kolyvanov to head into Kopke's arms.
When Mostovoi dribbled through the fringe of the German defence. Kolyvanov was unable to get in his shot. At this point Kolyvanov was looking the most dangerous player on the field, and Markus Babbel was booked for bringing him down. Onopko and Oliver Bierhoff were also booked for illegal tackles later in the half.
Mostovoi opened the second half for Russia by curling a right footed free kick just past the angle, but after 55 minutes Germany took the lead with a sweeper's goal of which Franz Beckenbauer would have been proud. No one spotted Sammer as he came through, inviting a pass from Moller. Kharine parried his first shot but Sammer managed to nudge the rebound into the net.
Russia's last worthwhile chance came after 69 minutes, when Mostovoi's short pass put Kolyvanov clean through eight yards from goal. The German defenders looked at each other in horror, but Kolyvanov was equally astonished and failed to control the ball, which ran through to Kopke.
A minute later the Russians suffered a final blow when Kovtun was sent off for going through with both feet on Dieter Eilts. Now they were easy prey for Klinsmann, whose first goal, scored after 77 minutes, was as classic an example of this striker's art as White Hart Lane ever saw. Taking a perfect pass from Bierhoff in the inside right channel, he sprinted past Yuri Nikiforov before flicking the ball past Kharine's right hand with the outside of his right boot.
Two misses by Bierhoff within a minute prefaced his substitution with five minutes to go. First Moller sent Freund, who had replaced Thomas Hassler, down the right for a cross measured an inch too high for Bierhoff's leap. When Ziege became the next to benefit from Moller's accuracy, a cross from the left fell perfectly for Bierhoff, who muffed a simple sidefoot tap in.
Stefan Kuntz, who had taken Bierhoff's place alongside Klinsmann, made the last goal when he hurdled Nikiforov's tackle, came back inside Onopko and rolled the ball across the goalmouth for his fellow striker to slide the ball carefully home, this time with the inside of his right foot.
