Squabbling Oranje left on brink of elimination

Two goals from Mario Gomez gave Germany a 2-1 victory over Netherlands in their Group B match on Wednesday, putting them on the brink of the quarter-finals while the Dutch face a potential early exit.

Two goals from Mario Gomez gave Germany a 2-1 victory over Netherlands in their Group B match on Wednesday, putting them on the brink of the quarter-finals while the Dutch face a potential early exit.

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Gomez fired the Germans into a 24th minute lead after turning in the area and firing past keeper Maarten Stekelenburg following a superb Bastian Schweinsteiger pass.

The pair combined again 14 minutes later, with Gomez thundering in his third goal in two matches from the right before Dutch forward Robin van Persie cut the deficit in the 73rd with his first goal of the tournament.

The result lifted Germany to six points from two games, following their 1-0 opening win over Portugal, while the Netherlands teeter on the brink of elimination after two defeats in the group following their opening loss to Denmark.

Germany coach Joachim Loew praised Gomez’s finishing which left them needing a point against Denmark on Sunday to guarantee their progress to the last eight while the Dutch must now beat Portugal to have any hope of qualifying.

“The goals were great by Gomez. He’s got good self confidence from the whole season and it’s good for him. Schweinsteiger is (also) getting better and better,” said Loew.

Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk said: “We lost against a very good team and if you want to beat Germany you have to be top as team and player, and we weren’t today as several players aren’t really in shape.”