Westermann scores for Germany

Germany opened their World Cup campaign with an easy but lacklustre win. Coach Joachim Löw's team beat football minnows Liechtenstein 6:0 (1:0) to lead Group 4 ahead of Wales. Lukas Podolski, back as a striker after playing in left midfield at EURO 2008, scored twice (21./48.). Both goals were laid on by Piotr Trochowski. Simon Rolfes (65.) scored his first international goal, with another a minute later from Bastian Schweinsteiger (66.). Thomas Hitzlsperger scored with a deflected free kick( 76.) while Heiko Westermann rounded things off with his first goal for Germany (86.). Löw played his successful World Cup striker duo, Podolski und Miroslav Klose, up front. After four minutes, Klose - wearing the captain's armband in place of injured Michael Ballack - passed to Trochowski. His shot from seven metres out was blocked by keeper Peter Jehle. Eight minister Jehle was tested again by Schweinsteiger and turned his shot away for a corner. At first, in the pouring rain of Vaduz, Liechtenstein tried to attack. But Germany's central defensive duo of Heiko Westermann and Serdar Tasci allowed them no goal chances, despite some communication problems. Liechtenstein, 130th in the world rankings, managed just one shot from Benjamin Fischer (10. ) into the side netting. After a quarter of an hour, the EURO runners-up took control. Trochowski, lively on the left flank, posed a threat and provided the pass for Podolski's goal in the 21st minute. Despite taking the lead, Germany tried to play too much down the middle. Schweinsteiger often drifted into the centre from the right and ran straight into the Liechtenstein cover. After the break, Podolski was on hand to slot home from close in, again after a pass from Trochowski. Three minutes later, Thomas Hitzlsperger nearly added to the tally, but was kept out by keeper Jehle. When luckless captain Klose was replaced by Mario Gomez, Rolfes made the scoreline 3:0. This came after the first mistake by keeper Jehle, who dropped the ball at his feet from a free kick. A minute later, Schweinsteiger was on his own with only the keeper to beat and made it 4:0. Liechtenstein began to tire as the match progressed. Twelve minutes before time, a Hitzlsperger free kick was deflected into goal and Westermann scored his first for Germany in five outings from a corner from Gladbach's Marko Marin.