Japan Spain survive explosive World Cup group Germany out. ‘Another boring night of football’ – says former England striker Gary Lineker on social media Lineker wrote the words jokingly, it is not worth saying anymore. Football lovers saw a crazy night of football in Qatar. Germany did not gain even after defeating Costa Rica. At the same time, the four-time world champions were knocked out of the group stage after beating Spain in another match.
Japan confirmed the last sixteen by becoming the group champion with 6 points. On the other hand, despite losing, Spain secured the ticket to the second round as the group runners-up. On this day, they had to win, Germany had to keep an eye on the Spain-Japan match. If the equation of the two matches does not match, there is a fear of being eliminated from the group stage of the World Cup for the second time in a row. Germany could not match the apprehension of the equation. Although they did their job well to win, the account of the Spain-Japan match did not come in favor of the Germans. Spain lost 2-1 to the Asian giants. This is the result of tomorrow for the Germans.
Alvaro Morata took the lead in the eleventh minute of the first half, but Spain conceded two goals later. But Japan surprised in the second half. In the 48th minute, Ritsu Doan took a bullet speed shot from just outside the D-box after getting the ball from the Spanish defense. Unai Simon couldn’t send it out even after putting his hands on it. The Spanish goalkeeper was defeated by the speed of the ball. Ao Tanaka scored Japan’s winning goal in the 51st minute of the match.
Read More: What club is Messi going to after the World Cup?
On the other hand, Germany shook Costa Rica’s defense from the start in the life-and-death match. However, the desired first goal was met in the tenth minute of the match. Striker Serge Nabri put the Germans ahead from a great counter attack. The Germans floated for the first time on the perfect head of Nabri. However, the four-time world champions could have gone ahead in the previous minutes. Thomas Müller missed the opportunity.
The goal was the same despite some more attacks in the first half. On the contrary, Germany could have digested the goal at the end. In the 41st minute Kesher Fuer wasted a golden opportunity to equalize Costa Rica. Despite Antonio Rudiger’s mistakes, Manuel Neuer’s skill kept them alive. In the first half, Costa Rica showed signs of turning around, but in the second half it was reflected. Yeltsin Teheda scored in the 58th minute of the match. Costa Rica got the ball in Germany’s net for the first time with two attempts.
Against the flow of the match, Juan Pablo Vargas gave Costa Rica the lead in the 70th minute. Kai Havertz equalized for Germany three minutes later. The match takes a different dimension in momentary attack-counter-attack. Havertz put Germany ahead again in the 85th minute of the match. The forward scored his second from Nabri’s cross from outside the D-box. Nicklas Fulkrug scored the fourth goal for Germany in the 89th minute from Joshua Kimmich’s cross. But in the end luck did not help the Germans. The men’s World Cup was marked by female referees for the first time on Germany’s farewell day. Stephanie Fraparte of France was the main referee in this match. His assistants are two female referees—Neuja Bac of Brazil and Karen Diaz of Mexico.