Germany, who had rekindled their qualifying hopes, forced Spain to draw and leave the suspense of group promotion until the final round.
I thought that the mountains would be restored, but I didn't expect the willows to be bright.
Ahead of the second round of Group E, Germany appeared to be in a desperate position to fight Spain. Japan previously won 4-3 and drew 1 against Costa Rica, averaging 3 goals per game in any win, and it seems that it is effortless to win the opponent's two games and 6 points. In this seemingly determined game, the Japanese themselves turned the battleship over. Costa Rica's victory immediately complicated the situation for the group: Spain was no longer a hurdle that had to be crossed in the Germans' exit hurdle.
For Germany and Flick, this is a result that allows the tank to breathe a sigh of relief. After being defeated by Torres in the Euro 2008 final, the German faced the Matadher six times in all competitions, only winning one in the 2014 friendly and Klose in the 89th minute. In the five official matches, the Germans not only failed to win, but also lost half a dozen in the UEFA Nations League two years ago, which became the biggest humiliation in Löw's 12 years in charge of Germany.
With Pep Guardiola's arrival at Bayern and a group of 88,89 flexible players, Loew's team changed from the hardcore style of German football to ground penetration and meticulous passing, and culminated in the 2014 World Cup victory. Interestingly, Spain under Aragonés in 2008 was the beginning of the popularity of modern pass-and-control football. German football embarked on the path of following the style of its opponents, but lost its own expertise under unconscious blind imitation.
Flick and Enrique played a match at the national team level that ended in a draw.
After paying tuition fees for many years, it's time for Germany to graduate, right? It stands to reason that Flick, who has led Bayern against Barca many times, is the best person to break the game. In the face of strong opponents, Flick did make changes, but the steps were still small: Gretzka replaced Kai Havertz to provide defensive hardness in the midfield, and Mueller, who was nominally played as a central striker, was actually still an attacker who wandered away from the second point. Against the same idea of passing without a striker, the Spaniard is still superior. In the first half of the first half, Spain had the ball as high as 70%, but under the pressure of the Germans, the offensive advance was unfavorable, and the ball was constantly switched between the two.
Antonio Rudiger's first-half offside goal alerted Enrique that the German had the advantage in set-piece attacks and could not easily take headers. The moment Rudiger struggled to jump, there were no Spanish players around him, and if he had not taken half a step earlier, Spain would have been behind. The goal was blown invalid, but it was not meaningless for both sides: the Germans saw that Spain was not monolithic, and the Spaniards saw their own defensive holes.
With this as a node, the two sides began a new round of fighting methods. Flick stepped up his high pressure in the second half and put on a decisive stance, but did not instruct full-backs Raum and Krell to press, still fearing the opponent's ability to attack on the wing, and saved the draw for the final round of decisive matches. Morata's goal also proved that Flick's tactical arrangement was not conservative: Alaba's crosses and Morata's points, Spain pierced the German defense directly with the simplest crosses, from no center to a centre-forward, and Luis Lumi's fine-tuning worked for the second time in a row.
The offensive and defensive conversion speed of the two sides in the game is extremely fast, almost to the point of fighting for every inch.
Germany is like a hundred-footed worm dead but not stiff, and the situation is extremely bad. With two consecutive defeats in Costa Rica, once the Spaniards do not bother to fight and control at ease, Japan can overwhelm the German group to break through, and the initiative of the Germans to qualify will completely fall into the hands of others. Who can fuel the tank?
Sane, who was injured against Japan, and Phil Kruger, the centre, were almost Flick's last hope. The great difficulty of German football is often that there are always heroes at key moments. Sane's ability to attack and take the ball found the Germans a second raider besides Musiala who could hold the ball. The Bayern winger took over the game in the second half, and two direct passes between him and Musiala and Philkruger gave the player the opportunity to face the goalkeeper, the only difference was that the young Musiala missed the opportunity, and Phil Kruger as the goalscorer became a hero.
German media praised Phil Kruger after the game for playing an ace role. In the final round, Flick also needed him to provide sharpness to the striker.
Flick embraced the teeth on the sidelines, not only thanking him for saving the team, but also for giving the German striker the necessary sharpness for a goalscorer. Qianya and Musiala are almost in the same position, and the former's grasp of the timing and angle of the shot can become a model for the youngsters to repeatedly learn after the game. Seeing that the German team has once again found the No. 9 candidate, the media can't help but regret: if the Germans are so sharp in seizing opportunities in the first round, how can they give Japan a chance to reverse the game?
The data is also interesting. Philkrueger's goal was the first time Germany had scored a substitute in a tournament since Goetze's victory over Argentina in the 2014 final. Phil Kruger not only became the lucky star of the German team, but also Flick's next trump card.
The chance to get one point to qualify is a chance for the Germans, but whether you can seize it depends on the result of the final round. Four years ago, the group beat Sweden in the final minute of the second round, and the Germans also saw the light, only to be blocked by the South Koreans at the last minute. A German team that needs to ensure victory needs the ability and efficiency of Phil Kruger to seize opportunities. This time, if Flick's hopes are blown out when he sees the light of day, the German Football Association will inevitably be slapped in the face again: if Flick follows the old path of Löw, what is the point of changing him?