After the 1-0 loss to Mexico, all eyes were on Germany and how they would recover from the poor performance that had cost them the opening fixture of the World Cup. They were all set to take on Sweden, who had beaten Korea with the same score-line in their first match of the group F and were looking quite strong.
However, despite the need to put in a solid performance and take all three points, which was the need of the day, the champions of the world did not start in best possible fashion.
There were missed chances and no goals produced in the first half an hour, which was rather disappointing to watch, after they had failed to score in the game against Mexico.
It was the Swedes that were the first to striker, as they took the lead in the 32nd minute from a Ola Toivonen goal, who capitalized on an error by Kroos, as he could have prevented the move from materializing. Boateng was also unable to prevent the shot from being taken and the ball ended up in the back of the net. The score was now 1-0, as the two teams went into the half-time break.
After the restart, the Germans finally made their comeback into the match with a goal that was scored from open play, when Marco Reus made it 1-1, just three minutes after the match was restarted by the match official.
There were no more goals for quite some time in the game, though a lot of chances got wasted and it seemed that Sweden had the upper hand, when Jerome Boateng ended up getting sent off in the 82nd minute, making things worse for his team.
Eventually, as it looked that the game was heading for a 1-1 draw, it was Real Madrid star Toni Kroos that stepped up with a superbly taken free-kick to beat the Swedish goalkeeper and score the winner in the 95th minute of the game.
The Germans had taken the lead at the last minute and had secured a 2-1 win, in this really crucial match.
Though, the team had played like any other average side for the most parts of the game, they did somehow manage to get the job done and secured all three points on the night.
What a big win this was for Joachim Low’s team, who had lost their opening fixture to the Mexicans, who had also beaten South Korea earlier in the night and there was a desperate need to open the points tally.
The group is now lit up, with Mexico at 6 points, Germany and Sweden at 3 each and South Korea still having some distant hope of potential qualification, with one crucial fixture coming up soon.
Whichever team is able to perform to the best of their abilities in that game, can actually bag a place in the round of 16 now. It is an open group and an emphatic win is all that is needed for any of the three teams, to advance to the next round of the tournament.
