Thomas Mueller emerges as star of young Germany team

By Peter Mayer Jun 28, 2010, 11:54 GMT

Bloemfontein, South Africa - Germany head towards a quarter- final clash against Argentina with Thomas Mueller, a young midfielder who has blossomed into one of the stars of the World Cup.

In Bloemfontein on Sunday, Germany totally eclipsed an England side whose 'golden generation' of stars, including Steve Gerrard, Frank Lampard and John Terry, had been expected to achieve much more.

Yet for all their experience - the England's squad's average age was 29 - they were unable to prevent a 4-1 drubbing by the youngest squad Germany has brought to the World Cup in over seven decades.

Among players whose average age is 25, the 20-year-old Mueller left the most indelible mark, scoring Germany's third and fourth goals in the space of three devastating minutes.

His first in the 68th minute saw convert at the far post, following a one-two with Bayern Munich teammate Bastian Schweinsteiger.

'I think it would have been possible to save it,' Mueller said after the match. Through his modesty he was perhaps piling, unwittingly, more misery on England goalkeeper David James.

His assessment of the second goal, a simple tap-in from a Mesut Oezil pass, was more spot-on.

'If you don't put the ball into the net from there, then you have no place in the national team,' Mueller said.

'Instead I'm most proud of may passes from midfield,' Mueller said of his performance against England, one that earned him the Man of the Match award.

His role in Germany's second goal was emblematic of this.

Mueller combined in a one-two exchange with Sami Khedira, 23, before sweeping Miroslav Klose's through ball to the left of the goalmouth, where Lukas Podolski pounce with a diagonal shot that went through James' legs.

'England is Wegge-mueller-t,' German mass-circulation daily Bild, said in a headline that substituted 'Muellered away,' in the place of 'swept away,'

Such praise was a far cry from post-match analyses of Bayern Munich's Champions League final defeat against Inter Milan in May.

Then Mueller's jittery performance in Bayern's 2-0 loss, was put down to a lack of 'maturity'.

But in South Africa it has been the care-free attitude so often associated with youth that has proved useful for Germany's success to date, according to Podolski, a 'veteran' compared to Mueller.

'We are different from other teams in this World Cup,' said the Cologne striker, who at 25 is playing his second World Cup after the 2006 edition where he was voted best young player.

'After the match (against England) we just sat in the dressing room drinking beer and we played some music loudly. It was a great atmosphere,' he said.

But amidst the exuberance, 25-year-old defender Per Mertesacker warned against complacency, his thoughts already turning to Saturday's quarter-final against Argentina in Cape Town.

'Because we have such a young team we have to remain concentrated. We have yet to really achieved something,' he said, comparing the current German side to those who earned the country three World Cup titles.