Under thunder, lightning and torrential rain that stopped the match for half an hour, a graceful Germany got the better of a Denmark that was determined, supported by their goalkeeper Schmeichel until the second half. Luis de la Fuente’s Spain already knows that if they beat Georgia on Sunday they will have to face the hosts in Stuttgart.
2
Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, David Raum (Benjamin Henrichs, min. 79), Antonio Rüdiger, Nico Schlotterbeck, Jamal Musiala (Florian Wirtz, min. 80), Robert Andrich (Emre Can, min. 63), Leroy Sané (Waldemar Anton, min. 87), Ilkay Gündogan (Niclas Füllkrug, min. 64), Toni Kroos and Kai Havertz
0
Kasper Schmeichel, Jannik Vestergaard, Andreas Christensen (Jacob Bruun Larsen, min. 80), Joachim Andersen, Alexander Bah (Victor Kristiansen, min. 80), Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Thomas Delaney (Christian Nørgaard, min. 68), Joakim Mæhle, Christian Eriksen, Andreas Skov Olsen (Yussuf Poulsen, min. 68) and Rasmus Højlund (Jonas Wind, min. 80)
Goals
1-0 min. 52: Kai Havertz. 2-0 min. 67: Jamal Musiala
Referee Michael Oliver
Joachim Andersen (min. 56), Joakim Maehle (min. 59)
The first storm to break was Germany, which started off with a storm. With Andrich alongside Kroos, Gündogan freed up and Raum, Kimmich, Musiala and Sané attacking the flanks, the German players matched their initial attack with the flashing lightning that split the dark clouds that were threateningly approaching in the litany of the Westfalenstadion roof.
In a quarter of an hour, Germany had a goal against Scholotteberg disallowed after a corner due to a previous tackle by Kimmich and for Schmeichel Jr. to remember those nights in which his father, Peter, made himself perceived as unbeatable. He flew at a hard shot from Kimmich, a poisoned parabola header and hit Havertz with a bitten but well-crossed volley. Germany was a gale and its enthusiastic fans cheered with delight as the lightning turned into thunder. The first one that broke sharp and sharp already overwhelmed the staff. It coincided with the drop in revolutions of the steamroller that Germany had been in for a long quarter of an hour.
A long cross ball from Andersen to Eriksen turned it into a very fine maneuver. Cradling the ball with the outside of his boot also helped him pass Rüdiger and sew a shot that the Madrid center back was able to deflect due to his quick reaction. The play gave way to a Denmark that set the pace better against a stunned Germany. The duel entered a valley zone of high pace and little artillery while the sky darkened and lit by thunder was already settling on the roof of the coliseum. A storm was approaching and it was unleashed with a torrential downpour that forced the referee to stop the match in the 35th minute. The deluge became biblical with two waterfalls that fell from the corners of one of the covers as a picture for the posterity of this Eurocup. The players and the refereeing team disappeared through the mouth of the locker room to take shelter from the storm while only a few brave people among the public did not run towards the covered stands or towards the vomitories. There, during the half hour that the game was stopped, the fans of both teams took the opportunity to stock up on beer while the appropriate pastry chef sounded over the stadium’s public address system. Life is Life of Europe.
With no sign of the thunderstorm in the sky and the clouds already squeezed to the limit, the match resumed. Germany wanted to repeat their initial cyclone and Havertz headed in a good Raum curler. Of course, Schmeichel’s chest was perfectly placed. Denmark responded with a dizzying transition after a bad pass from Sané. Eriksen made it academic with a first touch that sent Delaney running to stand on the edge of the area and assist the brave Hojlund. The latter, who forced a point, could barely get his boot under the ball for a chip that Neuer deflected.
The break brought another punishing Germany, which was startled when centre-back Andersen pounced on a loose ball from a corner and beat Neuer with a low left-footed shot. The VAR declared him offside and he was doubly penalised for the next play. A cross from Raum hit him on the hand. The referee did not see it, but the video referee did. Havertz did not forgive. The goal unleashed the second storm of German football. Havertz himself, with that stride as elegant as it was powerful, twice faced Schmeichel. As a class player that he is, he tried to finish with subtle touches that went just wide. It was Musiala who set up the decisive second goal. It was in one of those sequences that the new paradigm encourages when the team trying to play out from the back breaks the pressure with a pass that crosses the lines and finds the free man ready to run into the open field. Musiala did not fail. Spain, if it can handle Georgia, should take note.
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