The digital clock on the scoreboard in the Stuttgart stadium was about to turn to the 120th minute. The score was 1:1 between Germany and Spain, and some internal logic seemed to force it to go to penalties at the end of a game that had everyone in the stadium excited and buzzing.
But then another ball flew into the penalty area from the left side of the Spanish attack, from the foot of Dani Olmo, and because Antonio Rüdiger was standing too far away from Mikel Merino and had lost sight of him behind him, the game took a different direction at the last moment.
There was still a punch line from the German perspective. But that was just that Toni Kroos kicked the last ball before referee Anthony Taylor blew the final whistle, sealing the end of Kroos’ career. The semi-final of the European Championship on Tuesday in Munich will be between Spain and France (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, on ARD or ZDF and on MagentaTV). Dani Olmo (52nd minute) and Florian Wirtz (89th) scored in the 90 minutes, and it was a fair draw at that point.
In the end, the Germans were particularly dissatisfied with the scene shortly after the break in extra time. Jamal Musiala shot, the ball flew dangerously towards the goal, but was stopped by Marc Cucurella’s hand. Referee Anthony Taylor did not intervene, nor did the video referee – a close but definitely justifiable decision because there was neither intent nor negligence, although decisions have often been made differently in similar scenes.
Unimagined reserves
Before that, in the 90 regular minutes, it looked like two teams at different stages of development for half a game, (Spanish) structure versus (German) hope, and when Dani Olmo put the Selección in the lead, Nagelsmann’s team was not in a good position. But the goal proved to be the trigger for unexpected reserves of momentum.
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The way the men in white tried everything to avoid being eliminated, the way they created chance after chance, also impressed the Spaniards, who had been pretty confident up until then, and it was well deserved that this German team rewarded themselves with the equalizer by Wirtz just before the end. But in the end they had to complete their victory lap, defeated.
The Ring of Balance
Such games are usually decided in the center, Kroos said before the game. The Spanish team with Rodri, Pedri and Fabián Ruiz had set the benchmark in this regard at the European Championships. Rodri, perhaps the best “six” in the world, was the focus of many hymns and analyses. But Nagelsmann wanted to apply the lever elsewhere. He justified Emre Can starting instead of Robert Andrich by saying that he wanted to have “one more pace player” and to restrict Fabián Ruiz’s circles.
The pictures of the quarter-finalsSpanish conquerors in Stuttgart
But the Spanish constellation in the centre was soon over – and Kroos got his feet in the game in an unusual way. He stopped a counterattack with a hard tackle on Pedri, which had no consequences for him, but for Pedri, after a slight delay, meant the end of the game; Dani Olmo came on for him after eight minutes. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
The Germans were clearly struggling for balance, the Spaniards did a lot of small things right, and Nagelsmann’s team could be glad that they didn’t make a big deal out of it. The center, that much had to be said after 45 minutes, was Spanish territory, and the Germans were somewhat at the mercy of their own opponents with numerous ball losses. The fact that nothing worse happened was also due to the fact that the retreat worked and the full-backs, Joshua Kimmich and David Raum, did their job well against the feared wingers Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal.
Patiently moving forward
And going forward? The fact that Leroy Sané was back in the starting eleven had to do with the counter-attacking opportunities that Nagelsmann had identified. It was almost provocative how the national coach spoke before the game about how easy it was to decipher the Spanish game. But the national coach also conceded that the implementation was something else entirely.
In practice, little opened up this way at first, and when it did, it was lacking precision. Nagelsmann’s team took the patient approach, but it got noticeably better over the course of the first half – and often when Kimmich got involved. His cross to Havertz in the 21st minute brought the first good chance, but the header was not good enough. Havertz then fired off another shot from a central position.
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After the break, Nagelsmann adjusted his line-up. Andrich came on for Can, and Wirtz for Sané, who had been ineffective. But the Spaniards found the key. It was a situation on the left side of the German defense that didn’t look all that dangerous. Yamal had actually created space, but all the other Germans didn’t see that Olmo was heading for the dangerous zone from behind, Yamal did, and an unpretentious cross pass became an assist par excellence.
Simón saves against Füllkrug
Now something had to happen, Mittelstädt and Füllkrug came on for Raum and Gündogan, and Füllkrug tried to get the crowd involved with his arms flailing. And the Germans followed up with action, Unai Simón barely parried a shot from Andrich (70th minute), a shot from Havertz was blocked a little later, in the 77th minute Füllkrug hit the post as he fell, later goalkeeper Unai Simón offered Havertz a lob, but it went too high.
In between, Nagelsmann made another substitution, Thomas Müller for Tah. But half of the late goal belonged to Kimmich, who used his last bit of energy to win a header in the penalty area and served the ball to Wirtz, whose shot flew unstoppably into the left corner. In injury time, Füllkrug and Müller even came close to scoring the winning goal.
In extra time, Spain regained its composure, but the Germans had the better chances, first when Wirtz shot just wide. And after the controversial scene surrounding the discussed handball, a great save from Unai Simón was needed to stop a Füllkrug header. It was the 117th minute, but the clock was running against the Germans in the end. And when Füllkrug missed the Spanish goal by a few centimeters with a header in the 120th minute, the bitter end was sealed.
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