By Kevin Fylan

BASEL, June 19 (Reuters) – Joachim Loew was high up in the stands during Germany’s 3-2 win over Portugal on Thursday but his influence was decisive on the pitch as the suspended coach won his tactical battle with Luiz Felipe Scolari hands down.

It was not just the decision to give a first start in Euro 2008 to Bastian Schweinsteiger, who scored the opening goal and set up the other two in this first quarter-final.

Loew’s triumph was in having the guts to reshuffle his midfield for such an important match, and in the process find a way to bring the best out of Michael Ballack.

Scolari might well have been expecting the absence of Torsten Frings, ruled out with a fractured rib, but he cannot have been prepared for Loew’s other innovations.

Loew, banned from the touchline after his sending-off against Austria, brought in the tall, physically intimidating Simon Rolfes and Thomas Hitzlsperger to hold the midfield and gave Ballack a much freer role.

Quite possibly this was Ballack’s best game since the 2002 World Cup, when his drive and ideas saw Germany through to a final he missed through suspension and that they lost to a Brazil side coached by Scolari.

This is a younger, hungrier Germany team and if Ballack maintains the form he showed on Thursday they will have few worries about Croatia or Turkey in the semi-finals, even if Croatia beat them 2-1 in the group phase.

“I think the decisive thing was that we made changes,” Ballack said. “We had a lot of practice with the 4-4-2 system but we didn’t have enough creativity or passion. We changed things a bit and that was decisive.”

IMPECCABLE CONTROL

Instead of sitting deep as he had done with Frings in Germany’s first three games, Ballack cropped up everywhere on the relaid turf at St Jakob Park.

His impeccable control and eye for a pass set Lukas Podolski surging down the left to provide the cross for Schweinsteiger’s opening goal in the 22nd minute.

Miroslav Klose made it 2-0 but Portugal were right back in the game with a Nuno Gomes strike before halftime.

Germany were on the ropes before Ballack demonstrated he has not lost his willingness to go just that bit further than the rules allow, giving Paulo Ferreira a slight nudge in the back as he headed in his side’s third goal.

With Ballack a huge presence in defence, midfield and attack, this was a far more efficient German team than we saw at the World Cup two years ago or previously at Euro 2008.

As the game wore on, all Portugal could offer were shots from outside the area and on the rare occasions they were on target, Jens Lehmann was alert.

Germany could not prevent Portugal putting in crosses but they were dealt with by the back four—aided by Ballack and co throughout—until Helder Postiga’s late intervention gave his side brief hope.

It was a night on which virtually everything went right for Loew.

He was not on the bench to enjoy it to the full, but at least he had a fantastic view.

(Editing by Mark Meadows)