In all my time watching football, there have been few goals that have changed so much. At 1-1 against Sweden, Germany were as good as out of the World Cup, and carrying out my duties as a pundit for ARD from Baden-Baden I was not looking forward to doing the post-match analysis. But then Toni Kroos scored and the next thing I know everyone – myself included – is jumping up, screaming and celebrating. It was a mix of relief and joy and showed just how much the national team mean to Germans.
Kroos has said there are people back home who want Germany to lose; that’s only true for a minority, as seen by how we, and millions of Germans, reacted to his goal. We always want them to do well and from a personal point of view the most pleasing aspect of Saturday night was the attitude of the players. They showed the right reaction to going 1-0 behind – sticking together and not giving up, which more than formations and lineups are the basic principles of football.
It will not be easy against South Korea on Wednesday but I do expect Germany to win and thus qualify for the knockout stages. And if the team continue to improve by even a few per cent each time they play, there is no doubt the quality is there for them to go a long way.
Germany certainly need to improve if they are to retain the World Cup. What was most concerning about the display on Saturday was how they started well but looked immediately vulnerable as soon as Antonio Rüdiger made the first mistake of the match. Suddenly the structure and any sense of a gameplan vanished and were it not for a combination of a bit of luck and another outstanding display from Manuel Neuer, Germany could easily have found themselves 2-0 down.
Fortunately Marco Reus scored an equaliser very early in the second half and from there everything went back to normal. Germany pushed and pushed and, right at the death, Kroos showed why he is the man for big occasions. It’s not easy keeping a calm head at such moments but that is exactly what he did.
I expect changes for the game against South Korea. For starters, Jérôme Boateng cannot play having been sent off against Sweden. Mats Hummels should come in for him having missed the game with an injury. Sebastian Rudy, having been a surprise pick on Saturday, may also miss out with the broken nose he sustained in the first half, and there could also be a return for Mesut Özil.
Özil’s omission against Sweden was a huge talking point in Germany – he simply is not dropped for big games. I sincerely hope that he is motivated even more now and shows his qualities when called upon by Joachim Löw. And the deeper Germany go in this tournament, the more important Özil could become.
The win on Saturday has raised the general mood in Germany and hopefully has done the same within the squad in Russia. It is an open secret that the players are not enjoying their camp in Moscow and would have much preferred to be in Sochi, where they played on Saturday and were based during the successful Confederations Cup campaign last year.
A camp is really important for a squad when they are going to be together for potentially up to five weeks – it has to be just right. That was certainly the case in Brazil four years ago when the players all spoke about how nice it was to be based by the beach, how it lifted their mood before and after games. They wanted a similarly relaxing atmosphere this time around but haven’t got that.
Saying that, the players cannot make excuses for failing to reach the levels expected of them. This is a decent squad and there are too many experienced players who have not yet reached their top form, for example Thomas Müller.
He is not the only one and hopefully after Saturday’s game we will see a different Germany. I believe we will. One goal changed everything and for Germans there is once again reason to feel hugely optimistic about Die Mannschaft.
