Korea vs Germany: Can die Mannschaft seal round of 16 spot?
Germany will be hoping to snatch a round of 16 berth at the expense of Korea as the two sides clash at Kazan Arena on Wednesday.
This tournament has not been so kind to favorites, with Argentina nearly crashing out early, and Germany still not secure. Argentina had to wait until the final matchday to earn their spot and needed Iceland to slip-up against Croatia in order to set up their upcoming clash with France. Meanwhile, Germany lost to Mexico 1-0 for the first time at a World Cup and was nearly dealt another major blow by Sweden, only to rally back to earn a 2-1 win and salvage their tournament hopes.
One can hardly blame Germany’s fans for being nervous after the 1-0 loss to Mexico. After all, three of the last four World Cup winners ended up crashing out in the group stage four years after winning the title. It first happened to France, who won it in 1998 and bowed out early in 2002. Then Italy infamously won in 2006 and was disgraced in South Africa, finishing behind teams like Paraguay and Slovakia. And finally, Spain, who are the most recent winners prior to Germany, were humiliated in Brazil last time around, including a massive 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands.
The 2-1 win against Sweden came at a price, but it may not be such a bad thing for Germany. Jerome Boateng had a nightmare of a match, and nearly gifted Sweden a penalty with a clumsy shove in the box that could have put the Scandinavians 2-0 up. And it didn’t stop there. The Bayern Munich man committed two terrible fouls in the second half after Marco Reus finally opened his World Cup account, and thus left his colleagues to try to salvage something with a man down.
Toni Kroos’s brilliant free-kick provided the result Joachim Low needed, and Boateng will be suspended for this must-win game against Korea. Given how he’s appeared out of sorts all tournament, it will do both the player and the team a world of good, as he doesn’t appear to be fully fit after an injury lay-off. It goes without saying that it’s win or go home for Germany, and this group truly could shape up to be quite interesting. For starters, although Mexico sits top of the group on six points, they aren’t through just yet. A loss to Sweden, coupled with a win for Germany (both by the score-line of 1-0) could see El Tri dumped out. And whilst that would be a major shock – as no team have ever earned six points and failed to advance – we’ve seen it happen before in the Champions League, where Napoli picked up 12 points and still failed to qualify from their group.
Korea, meanwhile, isn’t out of the competition just yet. Despite failing to earn a single win, the Taegeuk Warriors aren’t going to go down without a fight. They put on a solid performance against Mexico, with star man Son Heung-min grabbing a consolation effort in extra time, and if they can beat Germany and Mexico beat Sweden, they could sneak into the round of 16. They’ll need a massive win over die Mannschaft – something that seems highly unlikely – but then again, Croatia managed to beat Argentina 3-0 and no one saw that coming.
With Germany looking suspect in defense, Korea certainly will fancy their chances at grabbing a goal. They will also look to the Vatreni for inspiration, who managed to shockingly dismantle Lionel Messi’s Argentina and make La Albiceleste look like a bunch of amateurs in what still is the most surprising result of this summer’s World Cup. Will Germany be able to book their spot in the next round? Or will Korea spring what would definitely rank up there as one of the tournament’s biggest upsets on matchday three?
