Despite a lack of pace, Zlatko Dalic’s side have a habit of wearing the opposition down as Japan found out in a shootout defeatAs Croatia’s players tore across from all directions to mob Mario Pasalic it was tempting to wonder how many of them had recorded their highest speed of the night. Their victory on penalties had been on the cards as soon as the clock ticked into extra time: as Japan’s fire fizzled out, the muscles tightening and knocks mounting, the triumph of deliberate knowhow over slick, joyful but sometimes loose entertainment came to feel as inevitable as the rising sun.Croatia showed once again that they are the masters of walking football. It is an observation, not a slight:...
Hajime Moriyasu’s team won a game that seemed way beyond them for the second time in a wild and extraordinary outcomeSuddenly they went wild and just as suddenly they stopped again. Japan’s players though would be given a second chance and so, it turned out, would Spain’s. Ao Tanaka had bundled the ball into the net, the World Cup upside down again and a sprint had begun, squad and staff racing each other from bench to corner. Hajime Moriyasu’s side had scored twice in three minutes and so, for the second time in this tournament, they were now winning a game that had seemed way beyond them; that hadn’t seemed like a match at all in fact.Better still, 2-1 up...
Even if Hansi Flick’s side go out in the World Cup group stage after defeat by Japan, some things just matter moreSometimes in football, as in life, you don’t always get what you deserve. We might otherwise now be lauding Germany for defying Fifa before beating Japan in their World Cup opener. Instead, after an upset that resembled Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa in its force and magnitude, the sniping from the critics quickly began.There was a common refrain after Germany’s 2-1 defeat: that they had paid the price for being too distracted by daring to stick up for human rights. As one Qatari reporter’s account, liked more than 200,000 times on social media, put it: “This is what...
Germany v Netherlands should be another belter, Chad make their return and will Brighton’s Mac Allister play for Argentina?Before October 2018, the Netherlands had not kicked a ball in anger against Germany for six years. When the teams walk out for the Group C qualifier in Hamburg, it will be the fourth time the fierce rivals have faced each other in 11 months. Not that neutrals should be complaining. There have been 12 goals in the two Nations League matches and one Euro 2020 qualifier that have been played since – and some scintillating football. Nico Schulz’s 90th-minute strike for Germany sealed a 3-2 victory in a pulsating qualifier at the Johan Cruyff Arena in March that left the Dutch...
Twenty-three nations have booked their places for the World Cup in Russia, with the holders and Brazil looking in good shape but we rank England in 13th place, below IcelandIf the world champions were frustrated by their failure to win continental honours at Euro 2016 they have certainly taken it out on everyone else since. Germany won 10 qualifying games out of 10 and, even if San Marino’s presence in Group C needs taking into account, a record 43 goals scored suggests things are back in their old working order. So too did their Confederations Cup title in July, achieved with an experimental squad; Joachim Löw can select from an unrivalled depth of talent and, while winning back-to-back World Cups...