Saturday 19th June 2021
Update
Own goals, wit, spectacle
DFB-Elf waddles Portugal
Hot dance in Munich: In an extremely varied game, Germany deserved to win 4: 2 against Portugal. The DFB-Elf countered an early deficit by Cristiano Ronaldo with a furious offensive game and two forced own goals – and now has everything in their own hands.
Go then! The German national team pushed open the door to the round of 16 of the European Championship with an intoxicating performance. In the sometimes brilliant 4: 2 (2: 1) against Portugal, the defending champion also provided support against an unleashed DFB selection with two own goals: After Cristiano Ronaldo’s opening goal, his teammates met twice in their own goal. National coach Joachim Löw doesn’t care: his team showed the best tournament performance since the 2014 World Cup final.
A first, wonderful goal after only 4:24 minutes by the outstanding Robin Gosens had to be denied because of offside, then Ronaldo burst with his stabber (15th) right into the German urge phase. But: The DFB selection, which had been replaced, caught up quickly, continued to storm irresistibly and almost forced the own goals by Ruben Dias (35th) and Dortmund’s Raphael Guerreiro (39th).
This was followed by beautifully played goals by Kai Havertz (51st) and Gosens (60th), who made the game of his life but was replaced when he was injured (62nd). “Robin Gosens” chants echoed through the arena in Munich, which was occupied with 14,000 spectators. The goal by Diogo Jota (67th) was a blemish, which of course showed that Germany is not yet stable despite all the enthusiasm. Afterwards, the Portuguese put pressure on – Renato Sanches hit the post (79th).
Germany much braver than against France
The victory was more than deserved – and yet it is only an intermediate step on the way to the second round: To get there safely, a three-point against Hungary on Wednesday (9 p.m. / ZDF and MagentaTV) is again mandatory in Munich. For one of the first two places, depending on the outcome of the game between France and Portugal, one point could be too little. Then Germany would have to hope to move into the knockout round as one of the four best thirds in the group.
First of all, however, the win against Portugal was important in order to stay in the tournament and have everything in your own hands. Löw offered the same team that started against France (0: 1). He actually “didn’t think so much” about his line-up against the European champions, the national coach revealed before kick-off on ARD. For his chosen ones, it is only a matter of doing better: “We are looking for the golden mean.”
The first approaches were already promising. The German team was braver than against France, interfered earlier and tried to let the ball run fast. Serge Gnabry, Havertz and Thomas Müller kept changing positions. Joshua Kimmich and Gosens moved up a long way with their own possession. That quickly led to Gosens’ goal – Gnabry had, however, been marginally offside on Matthias Ginter’s cross.
Forced own-goal madness
Portugal staggered, Havertz (10th), Toni Kroos (12th) and again Gosens (18th) caused danger – but then the cold shower followed: Ronaldo himself cleared a corner, then the 36-year-old sprinted across the field and was there in time to insert a cross pass by Jotas. It was the first goal for the record goal scorer against Germany – in the fifth duel and with the 24th shot on goal. And in the DFB selection, the “golden mean” had already been postponed.
However: The horror only lasted for a short time, in fact the German team was unrecognizable compared to the first game. The sensational Gosens made steam on the left, Kimmich prepared the own goals on the right: But they would also have fallen if the Portuguese had not had their foot in the game. With the first, the completely transformed Havertz was already ready to shoot, with the second the significantly improved Gnabry would have been there.
Apart from the goals conceded, the German team convinced in almost every respect – but especially on the offensive, in which Müller also knew how to please as a driver, fighter and preparer. He initiated the hits from Havertz and Gosens with passes to the direct submitters Gosens and Kimmich. Then the German audience sang “Oh, how is that beautiful” – even if Jota was shortened.
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