Author: Babajanian Karo

ARMENIA’S AMBASSADORS ‘RUNNING THEIR PERSONAL BUSINESSES’ – ASHOT GRIGORIAN

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

22:09 * 06.06.14

In an interview with Tert.am, Ashot Grigorian, President of the
Forum of the Armenian Associations of the Europe (FAAE), said that
Armenia’s ambassadors to other states are “running their
personal businesses.”

Mr Grigorian, Armenia’s Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan
had a meeting with big businessmen and urged them to invest in
Armenia’s economy. The premier also voiced his discontent
with Armenian ambassadors to foreign states over their inactivity as
respects investments.

Since we have contacts with ambassadors we cannot say they are
not doing business. Rather, they are not carrying out diplomatic
activities. Armenian diplomats are doing nothing, but running their
personal businesses. They have forgotten their work for the state.

They are not capable of dealing with serious processes because
diplomats are a random choice in Armenia, without diplomatic education
or economic experience. So we cannot expect them to do any serious
work for Armenia. Of course, we have exceptions. For example, I cannot
say the same about Ambassador to Austria Arman Kirakosyan.

As regards the possibility of investments in Armenia’s
economy by Armenian businessmen residing in other countries, the
potential is really great. But no ambassador can once more lie and
bring a businessman to Armenia because states have in recent years
formed the opinion that businessmen are “stripped”
in Armenia. And businessmen from the Armenian Diaspora receive
“special treatment” – defrauding them of as much money
as possible and sending them away from the country. In recent years,
we have not heard about well-known philanthropists and businessmen who
would support Armenia using their contacts. So turning to ambassadors
will not bring about any essential changes.

What should be done to remedy the situation?

First, we should demand that Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs maintain a high level of its diplomatic service. I should
note that there was no “Azerbaijani lobbying” at one
time. Regrettably, however, Azerbaijan’s diplomatic missions are
now achieving remarkable success. But we have to say that a certain
Eduard Nalbandian does not serve Armenian interests. If the minister
is engaged in diplomacy, how could he be sitting beside the president
at the meeting of the Eurasian Economic Union, without the president
informed of Ilham Aliyev’s letter? And we must respond to that
letter not to disgrace ourselves in the eyes of the entire world. That
is, we have no diplomacy because we have no foreign minister.

What are your expectations about the new government?

No expectations. The government is a copy of the former government,
and even a worse one. All of them are corrupt ministers.

If so, how do you plan to work with the government?

After a long debate, our Forum decided to extend its hand to
Armenia’s new premier and invest 5- 10-year loans. They are the
breath of life for country. We have large-scale investment programs
and we’ll try to implement them one after another. We are now
dealing with the re-operation of one of Armenia’s industrial
giants, Nairit plant. If we succeed, it means rehabilitation and
progress of 80% of Armenia’s industry.

Armenia has finally decided to join the Eurasian Economic Union. What
is the European Armenian communities’ attitude?

Our dream has been Armenia’s best ties with the European Union.

Our dream has been Armenia’s signing an Association Agreement
with the EU and developing its excellent relations with Russia as
well. Both Russian and European ambassadors are well aware that
the United States is seeking to weaken both Russia and Europe. Our
diplomacy should have taken the following course: excellent relations
with Europe and best relations with Russia. They might have served
as a bridge between the great powers. But they lied to both instead
of continuing this complementary policy. In short, September 3 showed
Armenia as a liar.

CHALLENGES DEVELOPING INTO THREATS TO ARMENIAN WORLD – EXPERT

15:10 * 06.06.14

A challenging situation is developing into a threat to the Armenian
world, theologian, Deputy Director of the Areg research center Vardan
Khachatryan told reporters on Friday.

He stressed the need to prevent political, social and religious gaps.

A good occasion is the centennial of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman
Turkey, the work of the relevant commission and individual perception.

Khachatryan stressed the importance of formulating a number of rules
in the Armenian Diaspora, which would resemble parliamentary centers
for Armenian communities.

“It is an important task. We have a potential, but we cannot turn in
into strength. We must realize the world respects strength, especially
in our region,” he said.

With respect to the situation in Aleppo, Khachatryan said:

“The reports are tragic. The Armenian community has decided to leave
Aleppo and move to Latakia and, later, to Beirut.”

He pointed out Gray Wolves’ involvement in the developments.

Khachatryan is surprised that Armenia did not give an adequate response
to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s statement in Astana.

“This task is addressed to the Armenian people. Armenia’s authorities
and opposition must deal with external challenges,” he said.

Armenian News – Tert.am

UN Trusteeship – Alternative to Vassalization

Igor Muradyan, Political Analyst
Comments – Saturday, 07 June 2014, 16:59

The short-lasting history of sovereign existence of the “zone” has
realistically demonstrated the total incapacity of its society to
build a sovereign state. Elites that had appeared in government in the
“zone” expressed readiness to wind up sovereign, or rather
semi-sovereign existence.

Not long before the revolution of 2003 Georgia was described as a
failure state, and the Western analytical circles were considering UN
trusteeship on its territory in accordance with the charter of this
organization. However, Georgia was able to get out of that shameful
situation and, despite the war with Russia, it is now at the doorstep
of NATO and the European Union.

In 2012-2013 the “zone” was viewed as a country that kept up with
Georgia by its rate and level of real cooperation with NATO, which is
evidence to real opportunities in this direction which the “zone”
declined demonstratively. This indicates that notwithstanding
successful steps towards state building, favorable international
setting, the “zone” will eventually give up on its sovereignty.
Apparently, it is related to the genetic code of the virtual ethnicity
populating the “zone”. Now there is confidence that the greater part
of the “society” of the zone will support loss of sovereignty and
existence of a vassal.

However, Russian vassaldom will lead to final loss of sovereignty
while trusteeship will enable returning sovereignty in 20-40 years,
maybe later, but the “zone” will retain its right to restore
sovereignty in accordance with the famous international law.

The “zone” is facing a real threat of absorption by such a
chauvinistic Asian state as Russia, and there will be no chance to
restore sovereignty. It is possible to avoid this with the help of
international law relating to UN trusteeship which is not
well-established but still formally exists. This mechanism was
successfully applied to some islands of Oceania soon after which these
islands successfully gained sovereignty.

It is meaningless to continue to pretend that the zone remains a
sovereign state. Quite recently its president was the most popular
politician of the South Caucasus, and its pro-Western policy was
considered seriously. Now the president of the “zone” is perceived on
the international arena as the head of a vassal state or just an
administrative unit.

Many years of “cooperation” with Russia have led to international
isolation of the “zone” and defense advantages of Azerbaijan, which
will end up in a catastrophe of the zone in the next war. This policy
is the reason why the “zone” has transformed to a vassal.

In political history the Armenian entity will be once again indicated
as incapable of having a state and of independent political existence.
Certainly, Russia will hinder establishment of UN trusteeship for the
“zone”, pretending interested in saving its sovereignty which is true
because Russia intends to continue vassalization of the “zone”.

As part of UN trusteeship one may hope for introduction of such basics
as autonomy and reduced corruption and emergence of a civil society,
as well as civil consciousness. Besides, it may save the “zone” from
the disgrace of defeat in war and genocidal actions by the winner
side. Since the physical security of the population of the “zone” can
no longer be linked to Russia, its population may be interested in
trying the UN trusteeship.

The question is who will initiate this project. It is possible that
humanists “respected” by the government of the “zone”, having realized
how abominable their activities of many years are, will turn to the
UN, not to Putin. Although, it is hard to expect this from the
ideologists of vassalization.

The UN trusteeship may enable expectations to preserve an ethnic
hotbed in the “zone” which may become an argument for building a state
several decades later. So, everything is not lost, and there are still
hopes and chances.

– See more at:

Azerbaijan wants to exacerbate situation – Karabakh War veteran

June 07, 2014 | 13:18

YEREVAN. – Azerbaijan is unable to come to terms with the idea that it
has lost the war and Nagorno-Karabakh is an Armenian territory, and
therefore it is making attempts to exacerbate the situation and to
resolve the issue by force.

Karabakh War veteran Manvel Yeghiazaryan stated the aforementioned at
a press conference on Saturday, as he reflected on Thursday’s fatal
incident that occurred in Armenia’s Ararat Region, and on the border
with Nakhichevan.

In Yeghiazaryan’s words, one of the causes of this incident is
delusion. As per the Karabakh War veteran, Azerbaijan seems to think
that, by escalating the tension, it can force the Armenian population
in the border regions to leave their homes; that is, to create
suitable conditions for the prospects for resolving the issue by
force.

As reported earlier, two Armenian conscripts–Andranik Yeghoyan, 26,
and Boris Gasparyan, 22–had died as a result of the aforementioned
incident, when an Azerbaijani sniper had breached the ceasefire
agreement and fired shots at the Ararat-Nakhichevan section of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

Turkish factor contributed to Nakichevan incident – debate in Yerevan

13:39 * 07.06.14

The recent fatal incident on the Nakichevan border was evidently a
Turkish-Azerbaijani attempt to escalate tension in the run-up to the
Genocide centennial, says Vardan Devrikyan, an Armenian literary
critic and a veteran the Nagorno-Karabakh war.

“The closer we are to the Genocide centennial, the more Turkey will
use Azerbaijan as a second front to distract attention,” he told
reporters on Tuesday, calling for a higher degree of attention to the
Turkish factor.

Devrikyan said he doesn’t think that the choice of location was
accidental given that the situation on the Armenia-Nakichevan Contact
Line has always been relatively calm.

“Armenia thus experienced the breath of war, as the shootings were
closer to Yerevan,” he said, noting that the Nakichevan Line of
Contact is not limited to an Armenian-Azerbaijani border between
Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Larisa Alaverdyan, a former ombudsman also attending the news
conference, said the periodic shootings against the border villages of
Tavush have come to be perceived as something ordinary in Armenia,
with the repeated violations of ceasefire on the Nagorno-Karabakh
Azerbaijan Contact Line not catching any attention at all.

“The government bodies’ behavior forces the defense and security
agencies to shoulder the entire burden. But the question has to be
included into international organizations’ agenda,” she said.

Alaverdyan added that Armenia’s failure to respond to the statements
by James Warlick, the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, put the
country in a position of a guilty side that appears unable to resort
to any resistance.

“We too, have the right to speak about the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
in the language of international law. We must never have our heads
down whenever an ignorant politician addresses a letter which is later
read out by another politician who is equally illterate,” said the
former ombudsman, referring to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s
letter which president Norsultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan read out at
the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council’s recent summit in Astana (in
the letter, the Azerbaijani leader said Armenia has to make reference
to internationally recognized borders when acceding to the Eurasian
Economic Union – Ed).

Alaverdyan added that Azerbaijan seems to be taking advantage of the
situation in Ukraine and Syria where, she said, violence against
civilians has gone unpunished. “Azerbaijan seems to be getting a
carte-blanche, seeing those countries’ example,” she said.

Initiative Urges Community to Help Save Syria’s Christians

Friday, June 6th, 2014 | Posted by Contributor

Destroyed buildings in Aleppo’s mostly Armenian district of Nor Kiugh

WASHINGTON, DC–“First Christians,” a new Facebook community of faith
devoted to protecting the first Christian nations, has asked all those
devoted to religious freedom to join together in calling upon
President Obama to bring an end to the latest wave of brutal attacks
by extremist groups upon the Christian civilian population of Syria.

Concerned citizens can take action on this humanitarian cause along
with friends of all faiths, with Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians,
Pontians, Arameans, and Syriacs, as well as with all those with
historical roots, religious ties, or cultural affinity to the ancient
Christian presence in the Middle East. The First Christians action
alert, which is hosted on the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) website, provides an opportunity for activists to share their
views on this matter with the White House. The text of the sample
SmartMail is provided below.

The First Christians Action Alert can be accessed here.

* * *

Dear Mr. President:

I am writing to bear witness to the grave and growing outrage among
Americans over the renewed wave of radical attacks on the Christians
of Aleppo, Syria.

As you know, it is upon this frontier of the Christian faith, in the
ancient biblical lands of Syria, that many of the descendants of the
first followers of Christ – some still speaking the ancient Aramaic
language of Jesus – remain under brutal assault by radical extremists
who seek to forever erase this sacred region’s ancient Christian
heritage.

I am particularly alarmed that our NATO ally Turkey, long complicit in
the genocidal destruction of the region’s Christians, has now blocked
the flow of the Euphrates River into Syria, an illegal and immoral use
of water as a weapon that places millions of civilians at risk. The
United States should openly challenge this outrage, and publicly
condemn Turkey’s destructive role in Syria and hold it accountable for
its complicity in the depopulation of Kessab and ongoing support for
radical extremists, including those officially designated as
terrorists by the U.S. government.

Very simply, America must have “zero-tolerance” for the complicity of
Turkey or the use of any U.S. arms or aid in the killing of Syria’s
civilian populations. And so, it is with a special sense of urgency
that I join with Americans of all faiths in calling upon you to use
all the leverage at America’s disposal to immediately end the brutal
attacks upon Christian civilians in Syria.

I thank you for your attention to my concerns, and look forward to
sharing your timely response with my friends and family.

EAFJD URGES EU TO TAKE ACTION ON ALEPPO

10:09 06.06.2014

The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Development has
sent a letter to Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union
for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the
European Commission, urging to take the necessary steps in pressuring
the countries that are encouraging the Al Qaeda affiliated-groups to
stop providing them with arms and money. The letter reads:

“From the very beginning of the civil war in Syria, the Armenian
Community in Aleppo has suffered, big losses in lives, injuries and
properties, being in the center of the battleground between the Army
and the opposition forces. The situation has been deteriorated in
the last period, from the moment that in the area the main forces
fighting against the army are the Al Qaeda affiliated forces.

There is no doubt that those extremist opposition forces, are armed by
Turkey and entering from there, do not fight against the armed forces,
but basically their attacks are aimed against the population in the
cities and villages. Recently, they attacked the Armenian populated
town of Kessab, entering from Turkey, forcing the entire population
to evacuate the town and find shelter in the city of Latakia. During
the last days those forces entering again from Turkey are attacking
Aleppo, targeting basically the Armenian populated neighborhoods and
especially Nor Kyough.

As reported by news agencies as well, incessant rocket fire against
the Nor Kyough neighborhood, from the Al Qaeda affiliated forces,
are endangering the lives of the population and are causing massive
destruction. Armenian churches, schools, institutions, houses and
stores are in complete or partial destruction, making life unbearable
for the citizens of the town, thus causing a new wave of evacuation
towards Latakia, which is already overflowing with displaced Armenians
from the insurgence of the terrorist groups in Kessab early this
spring.

Your Excellency,

Recently, on the 21st of March 2014, the Al Qaeda affiliated groups
attacked the town of Kessab on the borders of the Turkey and Syria,
thus forcing the entire population to evacuate it and find shelter in
the city of Latakia. Today they are attacking the Armenian populated
neighborhoods of Aleppo and especially Nor Kyough. If Turkey would
not encourage and even provoke those attacks, it would be very
easy to secure the borders and forbid the free circulation of these
extremist groups.

On behalf also of our compatriots, citizens of the European Union, we
urge you, as the Head of the exterior relations of the European Union,
to take the necessary steps in pressuring those countries that are
encouraging those Al Qaeda affiliated groups to stop providing them
with arms and money. Especially Turkey, which arms and allows if not
even provoke the free circulation of those groups, despite its fake
assurances about the contrary. The evidences are more than obvious.”

FIRST VICE-SPEAKER OF AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT: ‘ARMENIA HAS COMMITTED MORE THAN 30 TERRORIST ATTACKS IN AZERBAIJAN’

APA, Azerbaijan
June 5 2014

[ 05 Juny 2014 18:20 ]

Baku. Mubariz Aslanov – APA. First vice-speaker of the Azerbaijani
Parliament Ziyafat Asgarov met with a delegation consisting of the
members of the Saudi Arabia-Azerbaijan interparliamentary friendship
group. The Parliament told APA that Ziyafat Asgarov talked about
friendly and fraternal relations between Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan.

Touching upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Ziyafat Asgarov noted that
Armenia has committed more than 30 terrorist attacks in Azerbaijan
since 1990. He also informed the guests about the Khojaly genocide
and extended his gratitude to Saudi Arabia for constantly supporting
Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Abdullah ibn Muhammad an-Nasir, head of the Saudi Arabia-Azerbaijan
Interparliamentary Friendship Group, said Azerbaijan is an integral
part of the Islamic world and expressed his contentment about the
development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia in
different areas. He also emphasized that his country’s position on
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unchanged. The guest mentioned
that Saudi Arabia strongly condemns the terrorist attacks committed
by Armenians.

ISTANBUL ARMENIANS BUILD FIRST SCHOOL SINCE 1923

World Bulletin, Turkey
June 5 2014

In Istanbul, there are 22 minority schools; five of them belong to
the Greek minority while one is Jewish.

World Bulletin / News Desk

Mesut Ozdemir, chair of the Surp Asdvazsazin Church Foundation,
tours a construction site which will be home to a groundbreaking new
Armenian school in Istanbul.

In terms of architecture, it is not much different from other schools.

Yet it is still unique: it is the first school that Istanbul’s Armenian
community is building in Republican Turkey within a legal framework.

“After decades of legal hurdles, we began the construction a year ago.

It takes time and money to complete it, but the fact that we were
able to build it makes us happy,” Ozdemir tells Anadolu Agency.

In Istanbul, there are 22 minority schools; five of them belong to
the Greek minority while one is Jewish.

These schools are regulated by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, the
founding document of the Turkish Republic. According to that treaty,
Greek, Armenian and Jewish minorities have a right to open their
own schools. The state should allocate money for those schools and
although the curriculum is determined by the state, the schools can
offer education in Turkish and their own languages.

Over 3,000 students currently attend Istanbul’s 16 Armenian schools.

The Bakirkoy neighborhood on Istanbul’s European side houses one small
school that was constructed 170 years ago by an Ottoman official,
Hovahannes Dadyan.

Across the decades, the Armenians of Bakirkoy depended on that one
school but, as their numbers increased, capacity became a problem. Now
the school has to accommodate 400 children — more than enough for
the old building.

Luckily, right in front of the school, the park belongs to Ozdemir’s
church foundation. The foundation needed rezoning of the land to build
a school and, with the help of municipality and state officials,
they achieved that. Moreover, Bakirkoy municipality exempted the
foundation from legal fees for rezoning and building. “Members of
local council unanimously voted in favor of that exemption. Bakirkoy
and our Armenian community embraced the school,” Ozdemir stated.

The help provided to the foundation is an example of the broader
official shift towards accommodating Armenians.

“I know cases of persecution of people just because they painted a
minority school or pounded a nail on its wall,” Ozdemir recalls.

The major change happened in 2008 when the law about foundations
was revised. The changes allowed minorities to acquire and renovate
properties. The Turkish government also began returning minority
properties that had previously been confiscated.

London-based Minority Rights Group International’s Turkey Coordinator
Nurcan Kaya acknowledges that the revision has made it easier for
minorities to renovate their buildings. “Any renovation was a big
headache for minority communities. But that has changed in recent
years”, Kaya told AA.

She claims that Turkish officials never visited minority schools for
years, expect for inspections with the goal of punishing the school
but this has changed too. In 2010, then-education minister Nimet
Bas visited an Istanbul-based Armenian school to participate in its
graduation ceremony.

Minorities and experts agree that the government can do more to improve
status of minority schools. For example, Kaya says the government
can stop selecting the head deputy teacher for minority schools.

The Ministry of Education began assigning these deputy heads in 1937
in order to tighten control over such schools. The practice is still
in place but Kaya believes that those officials have changed their
attitude against minorities.

Another problem for those schools is that the ministry has a final
say over who can attend. Although non-citizen minorities can attend
schools under a guest program, people raised as Muslim Turks but who
have Armenian or Jewish heritage cannot attend minority schools.

“School principals should decide that. If a person declares that he
or she is Armenian, that should be enough,” Kaya says.

Minority schools still face financial problems although the state
has a duty to allocate money to these institutions.

Ozdemir stressed that his foundation is running short of money and
teachers’ salaries are paid with great difficulty.

“We collect donations in our community to pay the salaries. But our
financial circumstance remains challenging. Some Armenian families
send their children but they are unable to pay tuition and rely on
financial help,” Ozdemir said. He hopes the government’s returning
of Armenian properties may help to fill the financial hole in the
foundation’s budget.

Despite the problems Ozdemir is hopeful for a better future, insisting
on equal citizenship rather than positive discrimination for the
Armenian community. “We were born and raised here. We will die here.

We want the same rights as Turkish people, nothing more,” he says.

Markar Esayan, columnist for the Yeni Safak daily, says that rights
should not be perceived as “tolerance” of minorities. “They should
be perceived as a natural part of the whole,” Esayan states.

Esayan says the school means “respect, security and attention” for
the community, adding that it also represents the only chance for
the Armenian minority to maintain their cultural existence.

After a brief tour at the school, Ozdemir steps outside and examines
the building’s exterior. He hopes to see students in its classroom
in the coming academic year. “The old one has served for 170 years. I
hope this new one will also serve for another 170 years,” he says.

PREVIEWING GERMANY VS. ARMENIA

Bleacher Report
June 5 2014

By Stefan Bienkowski , Contributor Jun 5, 2014

On Friday, the German national team will take on Armenia in Mainz’s
Coface Arena as they run through their final test ahead of the FIFA
World Cup in Brazil.

Coach Joachim Loew will have plenty to run over throughout the course
of the 90 minutes, following a number of injuries to his first-team
squad and a rather dismissive 2-2 draw with Cameroon last Sunday. It’s
here that we pick up where Germany left off and begin deciphering
the problems that continue to puzzle coach and fans alike.

The Bundestrainer is likely to continue pushing his new striker-less
system, which involves playing Mario Gotze up front on his own while
Mesut Ozil plays off him like a second striker. Yet so far this has
caused more trouble than it would apparently be worth.

The concept of playing Gotze as the lone striker seemed to work
wonders for Germany in the first few minutes of the game, as their
natural exuberance and momentum drove them on and almost forced the
side to play the ball through the Bayern player and Ozil.

In this opening chance for the Arsenal playmaker, as he’s played
through by a clumsy pass from Jerome Boateng, we can see just how
effective this new German front line can be when used properly.

The figures circled in blue are the two wide players–Marco Reus and
Thomas Mueller– while the two central strikers are Ozil and Gotze.

Both are indistinguishable from each other and playing off the last
Cameroonian defender.

The second-most effective use of this system came not soon after in the
11th minute, when Boateng played a pass through to Mueller, who then
managed to flick the ball on to Gotze. As we can see from the shot of
the play above, the most important aspect of this move’s initiation
was the positioning of the four attacking players across the pitch.

Again, Mueller and Reus–who we can see on either wing in the red
circles– are pushed way up the park, beyond Ozil or Gotze, who are
represented by the blue circle and the yellow arrow respectively.

This play worked and almost lead to a goal because Germany were not
only very fluid in rotating the ball but most importantly were direct
in how they attacked their opponents. Cameroon were never given a
chance to stick men behind the ball, so Gotze was able to pull away
from his marker and run into space behind the defensive line.

Yet even in this move and the one we’ve referenced before, the German
front line were all facing the ball with their back to goal, something
that makes spontaneous runs and effective through balls much harder
to produce.

What we saw throughout this testing affair for Germany was a constant
struggle for Loew’s side to handle the concept of directly attacking
their opponents’ box. Ozil and Gotze generally offered very little
in that respect, and it was only once Mueller pushed up front that
we finally saw some results for Die Mannschaft.

We take our next play from the 66th minute of the game with Cameroon
a goal ahead, one which shows the moments leading up to Germany’s
opening goal of the night.

What’s most noteworthy in this image is the change in shape compared
to what Germany’s front line looked like in the first half with Ozil
and Gotze up front. By this point in the match Loew had brought Andre
Schurrle and Lukas Podolski on for the previous pair to sit on either
wing, while Reus and Mueller both moved into the centre of the pitch.

As Toni Kroos prepares to strike the ball at the bottom right-hand
corner of the image, note how Mueller, Reus and Podolski are all
offering space for the Bayern central midfielder to pass into, with
only Schurrle pulling back to offer the short, safer pass.

It’s this direct passing–almost akin to a Hail Mary pass in American
Football–that Germany clearly benefit from when they have quick,
powerful players like Reus and Mueller who can pester any defence in
the world.

When we take a look at Germany’s equaliser from Schurrle just four
minutes later we see a similarly direct method proving incredibly
effective.

For the sake of balance, it is worth noting that Cameroon had just
attacked, and in the image above we see Germany counter-attacking. Yet
even from such a spontaneous play we can clearly see how much easier
it is for Loew’s side to find space and bodies behind the opposition’s
defence.

Where the German attack spent the first half with their backs to goal
and passing the ball around, we now see all three forwards running
at goal with pace and intent whilst trusting their midfield to make
the difficult passes over the top of the Cameroonian back line.

As Loew goes into his final game on Friday, it will be worth noting
just how chooses to play his attacking line. Whether he opts to
persevere with Gotze and Ozil, bring in Miroslav Klose or indeed
revert back to the system that scored him two goals in the last match,
it’s clear to see which method is currently bringing him results.