‘Lucky’ Germans live to fight another day

Sochi, June 24 

Germany coach Joachim Loew described his defending champions as “lucky” after Toni Kroos curled in an injury-time free-kick to beat Sweden and revive their World Cup hopes.

Ola Toivonen put the Swedes ahead in the first half and Marco Reus equalised shortly after the interval but Loew’s men could not find the goal they craved as time ticked away. Germany’s task was made more difficult when key defender Jerome Boateng was sent off in the 82nd minute for a second yellow card. But Kroos, who had been at fault for Sweden’s goal, stepped up in the 95th minute to curl a free-kick into the top corner, beating the dive of Robin Olsen in the Swedish goal.

“The victory was a lucky one in stoppage time and we came from behind,” Loew said. “In the end, it was deserved because we believed in ourselves and stuck at it. We proved we have good morale in the squad and Sweden actually only had two chances. Mistakes like that happen even to Toni Kroos, so I am pleased that he then scored the goal. Today we saw far fewer bad passes than we had against Mexico and when we push so much forward, a mistake can always lead to conceding a goal.”

Loew to make more changes

Loew said changes would be needed for their final Group F game against South Korea.

The victory over the Swedes gave them a lifeline for a spot in the knockout stage after having suffered a shock opening loss to Mexico. The Mexicans are on top with six points with Sweden and Germany on three and Korea still pointless. The Germans must ideally now beat South Korea in their final group game to maintain their chances of advancing as one of the top two teams in the group but will need again to make changes to their lineup.

Loew made four changes for their game against Sweden, leaving out Mesut Ozil among other, but Boateng’s red card, Sebastian Rudy’s broken nose and fatigue among his player will see him field a different lineup on Wednesday. “My players were tired at the end of the game and Marco (Reus) had cramps as early as 10 minutes before the end,” Loew said.

“Boateng is suspended and Rudy broke his nose. We will need a couple of days to recover. Rudy could potentially play on Wednesday but we will need to wait and see.” 

Boateng’s absence is especially bitter for the Germans with fellow central defender Mats Hummels having missed the Sweden game with a neck injury. Loew said he was hopeful Hummels, who has not trained in the past days, would be back in time for the game against South Korea.

Kroos hits out at doubters    

Kroos has criticised former internationals and pundits for putting the boot into the defending champions after their shaky start. Following the dramatic win, Kroos rounded on those who had heavily criticised Loew’s squad after their woeful first-half display against Mexico.

The Real Madrid midfielder said: “Many people would have been happy if we had gone out. Anyone who speaks up, those experts, and anyone who writes about it can feel they have addressed things, but it gives me the feeling that it’s more fun to analyse or talk or write badly of us.”

‘The Germans somehow win’

Gary Lineker updated his famous quote about the Germans always winning after Toni Kroos’s dramatic late winner against Sweden. “Football is a simple game, 22 men chase the ball for 82 minutes and the Germans get a player sent off so 21 men chase the ball for 13 minutes and at the end the Germans somehow... win,” the former England captain wrote on Twitter. Lineker, 57, once famously said: “Football is a simple game — 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.” The comment came after England lost on penalties to Germany in the semifinals of the 1990 World Cup.— Agencies