Reus and Kroos keep Germany in the World Cup race

World champions Germany fought their way back into the World Cup race with great dedication and a last-minute goal from Toni Kroos. The Champions League winner from Real Madrid with a direct free kick in stoppage time (90th + 5th) and Marco Reus (48th) not only prevented Sweden from scoring 2-1 (0-1) on Saturday in Sochi the immediate World Cup knockout, now everything is possible again for Joachim Löw and his team. The German national team can make it into the round of XNUMX on its own in the group final on Wednesday against the South Koreans, who have already been eliminated.

A significant improvement after the break was necessary for the DFB team to win the second group game in the Fischt Arena. However, central defender Jérôme Boateng, who received a yellow-red card in the 82nd minute, will be missing against South Korea. Ola Toivonen (32nd) gave the Scandinavians the lead in front of 44 spectators in the Fischt Arena.

Löw surprises with starting eleven Löw had surprised with his personnel castling - and had taken a risk. Because he not only put world champions Mesut Özil and Sami Khedira on the bench. The national coach also changed his system and thus deviated from his original World Cup plan. Löw's newly formed team started courageously, extremely aggressively and created their first good chance after a few minutes. After nice preparatory work by the busy Timo Werner, Julian Draxler failed from the best position (3rd).

Against the Scandinavians, who were, as expected, defensively compact, the Germans tried to move around a lot, with the offensive forces Thomas Müller, Marco Reus and Draxler taking turns at the front. In the first ten minutes, Jonas Hector (4th), Draxler (8th) and Werner had further chances after a fine pass from Reus (9th). But a mistake by Draxler also gave the Swedes their first chance on the counterattack, with Müller helping out in his own penalty area (6th). Boateng risks penalty whistle The spectators in the Olympic Stadium directly on the Black Sea saw a fast-paced and highly entertaining initial phase. Because the Swedes also had chances. A bad loss of the ball by Antonio Rüdiger, who had moved into central defense for the injured Mats Hummels, enabled Marcus Berg to make a quick counterattack. Jérôme Boateng caused the former Hamburg player to stumble at the last moment - and was lucky that the Polish referee Szymon Marciniak did not see any criminal action on the part of the Munich player (13th).

After half an hour there was another shocking moment for the Germans: World Cup debutant Sebastian Rudy, who had certainly brought ball security into the game in the defensive midfield, was accidentally hit in the face during a duel, bled profusely and had to leave the pitch after a six-minute treatment break and being outnumbered. Kroos is to blame for the 0-1 deficit Ilkay Gündogan came on for the Munich player, who had to witness the 0-1 defeat a minute after his substitution. With a disastrous pass, Champions League winner Toni Kroos gave the Swedes the ball and didn't run back consistently. Attacker Toivonen from FC Toulouse took full advantage of the opportunity. Substitute defender Rüdiger was no longer able to clear the ball and deflected the ball unluckily. Captain Manuel Neuer had no chance - and raged about the 0:1.

The order in the German game gradually disappeared after the strong initial phase. In addition, blatant individual mistakes repeatedly brought the world champion into trouble. Hector was able to use his heel to clear Viktor Claesson at the last second (44'). In stoppage time in the first half, the DFB team was completely asleep when they took a quick free kick. Neuer quickly directed Berg's header around the post (45th + 3). Germany on the verge of an early exit Löw seemed completely satisfied when he walked straight into the dressing room after the half-time whistle with a stone-faced expression. When the hoped-for goal wasn't scored at the beginning, his players reacted much too early with haste and lost the necessary calm. The Mexicans' 2-1 win against South Korea a few hours earlier had increased the pressure enormously - and the German team didn't seem to be able to cope with it. Dream start to the second half The DFB selection came out of the dressing room with a lot of anger and momentum with Mario Gomez replacing Paris professional Draxler. The previously hapless Kroos put Werner in the spotlight on the left wing. The Leipzig player's input maneuvered Reus into the Swedish goal with his left knee.

Was that the much-needed wake-up call? Shortly afterwards (51st), Müller almost took the lead, his header just missing the post. Now there was a clear improvement, the German players acted with more energy and commitment and a more direct approach to the goal. The striking Werner in particular repeatedly caused dangerous actions with his enormous speed.

The error rate in the build-up game also decreased. However, the ultimately necessary conclusion to the possible winning goal was no longer achieved because the Swedes stuck to their defensive tactics and were lucky with chances from Hector (56th), Reus (61st) and Gomez (68th). Werner had a chance to make it 2-1 (81'), but shot over. Yellow-red then post then goal A minute later, Boateng was sent off, who rightly saw yellow-red after a foul on Berg. In the 88th minute, Gomez failed with a header past Olsen, substitute Julian Brandt hit the post (90th + 2) - and then Kroos struck.

Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Winter sports

Tennis

Other sports

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Events

Favorites

Reus and Kroos keep Germany in the World Cup race

For Joachim Löw it was one of the most important games in his career as German national coach. Mexico's victory against South Korea had once again increased the pressure on the DFB team enormously. But in added time Toni Kroos redeemed the world champion.

Suggestions

Comments (0)