Germany get better of Uruguay again

Germany 2-1 Uruguay
Germany prepared for Friday's UEFA EURO 2012 qualifier away to Austria with a narrow friendly victory in Sinsheim.

The last time these nations met was in the third-place play-off at last summer's FIFA World Cup, Germany prevailing 3-2 in Port Elizabeth. Like on that occasion, it was also an FC Bayern München player who opened the scoring, Mario Gomez emulating Thomas Müller's feat of ten months ago with his tenth goal in his last six games for club and country.

Andre Schürrle doubled the lead ten minutes before the break on his third appearance for the Mannschaft, with Walter Gargano's strike early in the second half proving nothing more than consolation for Uruguay. That sends Germany to Vienna on Friday in high spirits as they seek a sixth successive victory in Group A.

Gomez's 20th-minute opener was all of his own making. The striker stole possession from Diego Lugano, charged down the left, cut inside and beat Fernando Muslera from ten metres. Mesut Özil created the second, spotting Schürrle unmarked on the edge of the area. The soon-to-be Bayer 04 Leverkusen player required two touches before opening his international account by curling in a right-footed shot.

Gagano profited from the Germany's failure to clear their lines after 48  minutes, while Manuel Neuer then made a vital save to keep out Diego Godín's close-range effort as a raft of substitutions began to affect the pace of proceedings. The final chance fell to Gomez, whose shot from an acute angle went wide, but it mattered not for Joachim Löw's side as they closed the game out.