Thomas Muller scored twice as Germany kicked off their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 3-0 win over Norway, but Joachim Low was left questioning why the Bayern Munich forward was unable to find the net at Euro 2016.
Despite scoring five goals during Germany s successful World Cup campaign in 2014, Muller drew a blank in France as Low s men were eliminated at the semi-final stage his missed penalty in a shoot-out victory over Italy in the last eight went unpunished.
And after Muller starred in a dominant win for the defending champions in Oslo, where Joshua Kimmich also got his name on the scoresheet, Low joked that the player s eye for goal had arrived a few months too late.
We played very confidently, said Low. Norway did not come into play at all and had no opportunities to score.
For Thomas Muller, I would have preferred it if he would have scored some goals at the European Championship!
He worked a lot and had many chances but did not score any goals.
Of course there are things for us to improve efficiency, for example, was the big problem against France [in the Euro 2016 semi-finals].
Mario Gotze was perhaps the only German player to disappoint on Sunday, but Low urged patience after the attacker s return to Borussia Dortmund following a disappointing spell with Bayern.
Mario Gotze obviously needs a bit of time, he added. You can tell that the match practice is lacking.
He needs a few games to bring back what is expected of him.
