My thoughts on Germany’s late show, Belgium’s great win and England’s clash with Panama…
Kroos strike seals crucial win
It’s not been the normal way of doing things for Germany so far at this World Cup. After losing the opening game with a whimper, they struggled through this one having been a goal down at half-time and seeing Sweden have all the best opportunities. They were level in the fifth minute of added time, a man down, and close to being all but out. But in the end, as is so often the case, the Germans won.
Toni Kroos’ last minute winner was ingenious, with one of the world’s best midfielders stepping up at the crucial moment to save his side. The celebrations at the end said a lot – first that there is (at least now) a more united camp than we might have thought, but also that the struggles of the past week can be quickly forgotten. What will come out of last night is the elation at finding a way to win, and they will take their confidence a long way from there as they move on, as you feel they will now, into the next round.
It could have been so very different. In the first half they were awful again, being allowed all the possession but just unable to do anything meaningful with it. It took 39 minutes for them to manage a shot on target, by which point they were a goal down and perhaps should have been even worse off. They should have had a penalty when Jerome Boateng tripped Ola Toivonen as he ran in on goal, but the referee saw nothing wrong. They had the lead eventually though and it came from an error from Kroos, gifting possession for Viktor Claesson to find Toivonen who, with two great touches, controlled and finished. There were chances before the end of the half as well, with Marcus Berg close to tapping in Toivonen’s ball and then forcing a great save from Manuel Neuer.
Joachim Low had made four changes ahead of the game, most notably dropping Mesut Ozil, but it seemed to have had little effect. What did have an effect was the half-time change, bringing on veteran striker Mario Gomez to give the Swedish defence a different challenge to deal with. Germany were level within three minutes, with Timo Werner’s cross missing the foot of Gomez but turned in by Ozil’s replacement, Marco Reus. From there the chances flowed, with the ball being moved quicker and better runs being made.
Those efforts weren’t rewarded as the finishing touch let them down, but they always looked dangerous. Their hopes took a big dent with less than ten minutes when Jerome Boateng, who had been doing his best David Luiz impression all night, received a second yellow card, but they didn’t let it halt their rhythm. In fact they took another defender, Jonas Hector, off as they pushed further, and his replacement Julain Brandt smacked the post with a fantastic volley. They found the goal in the end though, with Kroos’ moment of magic from a free-kick a fitting way to end what on reflection was a thrilling game.
Sweden still showed enough to suggest they can make it through though, despite losing out in the end. Even when Germany became increasingly irresistible in the second half, they retained their strong defensive shape and frustrated their illustrious opponents, while maintaining a threat on the counter. However, with Germany likely to defeat South Korea in the final game, they will need to defeat leaders Mexico in the final game to go through to the last 16.
Mexico continue form
Mexico backed up the victory over Germany in their opening game with a 2-1 win over South Korea that puts them on the brink of qualifying for the last 16 for the seventh World Cup in a row. The win perhaps doesn’t reflect a very even game, but it does reflect the confidence in Mexico’s attack with a dangerous front three that could potentially take them to a long-desired quarter-final.
The match as a whole was a good one to watch, played at a good pace with both sides having plenty of chances as the action swung from end-to-end. Mexico edged the start, and had a penalty when Jang Hyun-Soo’s hand blocked the cross from Andres Guardado. It seemed slightly harsh to deem it to be deliberate, but the referee was sure of his decision straight away and Carlos Vela was just as confident in tucking away the penalty.
South Korea were then the brighter at the start of the second half, but it quickly developed into a thrilling end-to-end contest. Again it was Mexico who managed to find the net though, this time through Javier Hernandez who finished Hirving Lozano’s break with a great finish for his 50th international goal. In fairness South Korea kept their heads up and kept trying in the final 20 minutes, but by the time Son Heung-Min struck a brilliant curling strike into the top corner in injury time, Mexico had held out long enough for the win.
With neither nation known for producing outstanding defenders, this was always going to be an exciting game. Both sides had plenty of chances, but the difference again for Mexico was the outstanding trio of Lozano, Hernandez and Vela. For South Korea, their hopes for this tournament relied largely on Son and he has failed to deliver. He had eight shots in the game before the ninth went in, too late in the day to make a difference to the result.
Belgium lay down a marker
While the other main contenders splutter and in some cases choke, one side making a blistering start is Belgium. They grew in their first game to get a 3-0 win over Panama, but yesterday they were on fire from the first minute to the last with a demolition of Tunisia that warranted a scoreline far more extreme than the 5-2 that they won by. The opposition may not have been the strongest but you can only beat what is in front of you, and so far only they and Russia have done so with strong conviction at this World Cup.
They were on the front foot right from the start, and had a penalty within five minutes when VAR confirmed the Eden Hazard was tripped just inside the area by Syam Ben Youssef. The Chelsea winger tucked the spot-kick away, and after he missed another chance Dries Mertens played in Romelu Lukaku to put them two up. Tunisia got a goal back with their first shot of the game, with Dylan Bronn heading in Wahbi Khazri’s free kick, but it did nothing to stop the direction of travel.
Lukaku had more chances before he completed his double with a fourth goal of the tournament in first half injury-time, with Thomas Meunier slipping in the striker to dink over goalkeeper Ben Mustapha. Tunisia had their brightest spell at the start of the second half, but that came to an abrupt end when Toby Alderweireld’s long pass over the top sent Hazard through to round the keeper and score Belgium’s fourth. Chance after chance kept coming their way after that, with substitute Michy Batshuayi guilty of missing plenty of them, before the Chelsea striker finally got his goal in injury time with a half-volley from Youri Tielemens’ cross. There was still time for a seventh goal of the game as Khazri’s shot sneaked into the bottom corner for Tunisia.
The opposition hasn’t been top level, so how good can we say Belgium are? We can certainly compare their performance to that of England’s against the same opponent, and the fact that they scored far more goals despite a comparable number of shots (23 to England’s 18) shows that they have a more clinical edge, particularly with Hazard supporting Lukaku in getting amongst the goals. Belgium also seem better at getting their chances to the right players – Lukaku is the focal point of the team and is always looking to make the runs in behind which the likes of De Bruyne can spot, while Hazard is a dangerous runner. In comparison, much of England’s work went through the midfielders running in who don’t have the same finishing ability, while Harry Kane’s chances only came from set pieces.
For a side with world-class centre-backs, Belgium do allow the opposition plenty of chances. Playing with three at the back, with wing-backs Meunier and Carrasco showing so much endeavour to get forward, does leave them open, and in that respect they look a typical Roberto Martinez side. Tunisia had 16 shots against them yesterday, with five on target, compared to just six against England with the one on target (the penalty). For all their flair and skill in attack, that defence should still be a worry for Belgium, and they will have to be more disciplined when they come up against a top side if they want to go far in the tournament.
Last 16 in sight for England
Belgium’s victory means that an England win today will see the Three Lions through to the knockout rounds with a game to spare. Panama look to be very weak opposition, but after the events of Monday night against Tunisia they certainly won’t be getting complacent. Finishing was the obvious problem for England then, so if that has been worked on through the week, and they play with the same kind of confidence and freedom in attack as they did in that first half, they should be able to get the job done comfortably.
There will only be slight changes in terms of personnel. Assistant manager Steve Holland’s notes have received a lot of attention but in truth they didn’t tell us anything that we couldn’t already guess – that Ruben Loftus-Cheek, having impressed off the bench against Tunisia, is in line to replace the unfit Dele Alli, and that Raheem Sterling could be dropped to the bench after a poor performance with Marcus Rashford as a replacement. The rest of the side should remain the same, with any experimentation saved for the final game against Belgium if the job is already done.
The second round of group fixtures comes to a close with all four teams in Group H in action. This group was one of the hardest to predict coming into the tournament and it hasn’t disappointed so far, with Senegal beating Poland and in particular the surprise win for Japan over Colombia. You would have to be brave to predict either of the games today with confidence then, as the two losers go head-to-head to effectively stay in the competition. A place in the last 16 would be all but guaranteed to the victors of Japan’s clash with Senegal, and it will be interesting to see whether Japan are able to repeat the achievements of last Tuesday having had a man advantage for almost all of the game.
Box-to-box journalist 