“What is always extraordinary is the speed that they bring,” said the DFB sports director Rudi Völler warned shortly before kick-off. When Africa took the lead on the shores of Lake Ontario, Leipzig turbo attacker Yan Diomande impressively demonstrated this after starting problems during his preparatory work.
In the smallest of the 16 World Cup stadiums, there wasn’t much missing when it came to acoustic home advantage – and Nagelsmann could only have celebrated his previous lead shortly after his 1000-day anniversary. After a nice cross from the captain Joshua Kimmich would have been vice-captain Kai Havertz almost hit in the head. Goalkeeper Yahia Fofana scraped the ball just off the line. Also the long-range shots from Jamal Musiala (18.) and Felix Nmecha (21.) came dangerously close to the goal.
A minute after Nmecha’s attempt, the ball was in the opponent’s goal to the exuberant celebrations of the German delegation. Aleksandar Pavlović jumped energetically to the ball after a Kimmich cross – but did not hit the ball, only goalkeeper Fofana. Referee Juan Gabriel Benitez from Paraguay considered this to be against the rules.
The German World Cup ensemble took an even harder hit after the first drinking break when they lost 1-0. Diomande fired the turbo to the left, Kimmich couldn’t compensate for the speed deficit with his other class. After Diomande’s cross pass he saved Nathaniel Brown Amad’s first shot was still sensational, but with captain Kessié’s second attempt, he and Manuel Neuer were powerless in the German goal at the end of a chain of errors by the German defense team.
The fact that Neuer didn’t keep a clean sheet again in his 21st World Cup appearance, which made him the only record goalkeeper ahead of Frenchman Hugo Lloris, bothered him. The fact that the momentum of the game changed again after a drinking break is likely to be a source of discussion. As if the German fans had suspected it: there were boos and whistles at the start of the drinking break.
Referee’s decision angers Nagelsmann
Driven by the very energetic Bayern director Jamal Musiala, the DFB team needed some time to regain their strength after the decisive goal. Musiala initiated the next German goal through Havertz. But because of a previous foul by Musiala on former Leverkusen player Odilon Kossounou, this goal didn’t count either.
When the Paraguayan referee didn’t whistle after a tackle on Musiala, Nagelsmann raged on the sidelines. The 38-year-old was obviously angry about Benitez’s decisions. But he wasn’t happy with his own team’s performance either. At least the effort was right – even with Sané, who Nagelsmann stuck to despite a lot of criticism. The winger of Galatasaray Istanbul worked diligently towards the back. However, the former Munich player did not collect any offensive positive points.