Germany –
Paraguay – 1:1 (Havertz, 54 – Enkiso, 42). Penalty shootout 3:4.
To find the
answer to this question, look at the review of the match of the third round
against Ecuador. After two wins, the Germans guaranteed themselves the first
place in the group, but Julian Nagelsmann did not field reservists for Ecuador,
although he had such an option. As a result, the base lost to Ecuador, and
Manuel Neuer, in the episode with Gonzalo Plata's missed second goal, managed
to put his foot under the ball before the Bayern goalkeeper caught him. It's
just that at 40, the reaction is not as fast as at 20. Physiology.
At the same
time, in the match with Paraguay, which occupies the 40th place in the FIFA ranking,
the star Germans had to fight back. Moreover, the first moment at Neuer's goal
was created by football players from South America, when Junior Alonso struck
from an acute angle after a corner. But then Manu closed the corner securely.
Nevertheless,
after Damian Babadilla intercepted the ball while the Germans were trying to
escape to the counterattack, Atlanta United midfielder Miguel Almiron cunningly
rolled sideways to teammate Mathias Galarsa, who so conveniently hung Julio
Enkiso on the head of the French Strasbourg player that he did not even jump,
gored the ball into Neuer's goal. Manuel was there, but he didn't even jump,
just watched.
Nagelsmann's
reaction to the missed goal was instantaneous: Borussia Dortmund midfielder
Felix Nmecha sat down on the bench at halftime, and Bayern player Leon Gorecka
took his place in the second half. The fact is that at the moment of the blow,
Enkiso Nmecha was standing next to him, but did not even take a step forward.
It is no
coincidence that San Lorenzo goalkeeper Orlando Gil was named the best player
of the match. He deflected five of the six shots on target during the game,
then parried the shots of Kai Havertz, Nick Voltemada and Jonathan Ta in the
penalty shootout.
In the
second half, Germany equalized with a goal scored by Arsenal player Kai
Havertz, who blocked a flanking cross from Florian Wirtz from Liverpool. Then
Bayern player Ta scored a goal from the game, but the main referee of the
match, Jalal Jayed from Morocco, canceled the goal, considering that his
partner Voldemar Anton blocked goalkeeper Gil and prevented him from deflecting
the ball. Although in another episode, Paraguayan player Junior Alonso grabbed
Gorecka from behind and prevented him from hitting the opponent's goal, but
Djayed's whistle was silent, for some reason his colleagues at the VAR did not
intervene, despite the fact that the episode was inside the penalty area.
However, there was no intent in Anton's actions either, he just got in the way
of the goalkeeper and bumped into him spontaneously.…
In general,
Paraguay survived to the penalty shootout. And there, Arsenal player Kai
Havertz was the first not to score from the point, he took a long time, and
then shot close, it was not difficult for Hill. From the Paraguayans, Mauricio
came out to beat, but Neuer did not save him from low and into the corner.
Jozua Kimmich hits accurately and the score in the series became 1:1. But
Gustavo Gomez rolls quietly and puts Paraguay ahead – 1:2. Jamal Musiala
compares again – 2:2, but Mathias Galarza also scores -2:3. Nick Voltemade made
the second mistake of the Germans, although he hit a low shot into the corner,
Gil guessed and dragged. Antonio Sanabria could have made a point, but he
missed the corner. The score remained 2:3 and Nadim Amiri scored for the
Germans – 3:3.
At this
critical moment, the nerves of Gremio defender Fabian Balbuena also trembled.
He struck predictably, but Neuer helped out. Still 3:3. And the last blows in
this series were struck by Jonathan Ta and Jose Kanale. The Bayern defender
shot above the goal, and the defender of the Argentine Lanus Canale spread the
ball and Neuer into the corners. Paraguay is in the 1/8 finals! And he will
play there with the winner of the France–Sweden pair. Most likely, they will be
Didier Deschamps' wards. We'll see!
