Germany 2 ( Marco Rues , Tony Kroos Sweden 1 ( Ola Tolvonen)
German mission in World Cup 2018 was all but over. Germans were down 0-1 to Sweden through a penalty goal till lemon time. It was 1-1 till the dying minutes of the match. German greyhounds were in desperate search for the winner for surviving through the skin of the teeth. Waves of German attacks were breaking at Swede defense. Finally their never say tie attitude paid off .TonyKroos scored the all important winner from a free kick on the left hand corner of Swede box . A curling strike led to German great escape. They were moments away for unceremonious exit.
What a situation? Germany, Brazil, Argentina all there may have to exit if third matches of the respective group do not work out their way. With the match won, Germany has more than even chance of advancing. Their last group match is against South Korea. Sweden plays against Mexico which with 6 points from two matches is already through. Germany and Sweden both have three. Brazil with four points from two matches are also in a bit comfortable position .Even draw against Serbia will see the through. There is no reason comparing German and Brazil situation with Argentina. Brazil is playing characteristic fluid football Jogo Bonita once again. Germans are fighters. They have never say die attitude and they are reigning champions. Argentina looked demoralized unit. They did not pay any intention to fight. Germans and Brazil, in all probabilities, would go through. Argentina will fly back home.
The match:
After that humiliating defeat against Mexico, in their first match, Germans had to redeem. But conceding an early goal through a penalty for a hand ball on the 32nd minute (1-0) almost rattled them. The expected equalizer came through Reus after lemon break (1-1). Even the drawn result would have made their case extremely difficult. Germany was desperately looking for goals like famous German Shepherd dogs. But somehow or other way round, they were being denied it through resolute defending of the Swedes or Germans failing to aim their shots or header to the target. Swede Goal keeper also made some spectacular saves. In between Sweden also carried out some dangerous counter attacks. Manuel Neur also saved German on a couple of occasions. German anxiety grew acute as time ticked by. Full time score was 1-1. Ice was not being broken. 5 minutes injury time was added. 4 .5 minutes were gone. Germany got a free kick at the left edge of Swede defense. With moments away, Kroos scored the winner at 94 minutes and 42 seconds with a curling strike when the ball was just pushed to him (2-1). Germans had great escape. It is traditional German come back. If you read German football history, you will find many occasions in the past Germans came back from the jaws of death to win and win the world cup. It was in 1974, Germans came back from 0-1 at half time to win world cup match 4-2 against the same team Sweden.
With this great escape Germany is poised to qualify. They may even finish as top of the group if not Mexico win or draw against Sweden. We are sure Germans would be different in Knock out stage.
BDST: 1054 HRS, JUN 24, 2018
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