Won’t make it easy for detractors: Kroos
MOSCOW: Toni Kroos said all those wishing for Germany’s early elimination have another thing coming.
“I know a lot of people would have been happy for us to be eliminated but we will not make it that easy for them ... now we must recover, we don’t have too much time, and we must beat South Korea,” said Kroos after his free-kick helped the world champions beat Sweden 2-1 on Saturday.
Germany were trailing after 32 minutes through Ola Toivonen’s goal. Marco Reus equalised three minutes into the second half but their hopes of retaining the title were hanging by a thread until Kroos, who had given away the ball in the midfield that led to the first goal, scored the sensational winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time against opponents who preferred to sit deep and hit on the break.
CALM OF MIND
The heart-stopping win, achieved with 10 men after central defender Jerome Boateng was shown the red card in the 82nd minute, was a triumph for calm thinking and patience, said Germany coach Joachim Loew.
“I told them to keep their calm in the next 45 minutes and to not start panicking and try to work long, high balls but to continue with short passes and go vertical to the wings and try to be incisive,” he said.
“Something that I did appreciate was that we didn’t lose our nerve, we didn’t panic after going down. We needed to keep passing and tire the Swedes out and open up spaces. And in the second half the pressure built up more and more,” said Loew.
Loew praised Kroos whose goal at Sochi’s Fisht Stadium led to delirious scenes from their fans and the bench.
“I was very pleased for him,” Loew said. “He was obviously involved in the mistake with the Swedes scoring the first goal. It was an unfortunate incident but what he did very well was this free-kick in the dying minutes.
“It’s probably the worst end of a game I’ve experienced in my career. But the whole group is still alive, so we’ll have to lick our wounds and come back for the next one,” said Sweden coach Janne Andersson.
CHANGES LIKELY
The win gave Germany a lifeline but Boateng’s suspension, Sebastian Rudy’s nose injury and the players’ overall fatigue will mean changes before the last group match against South Korea.
“My players were tired at the end of the game and Marco (Reus) had cramps as early as 10 minutes before the end,” said Loew. The cards are being shuffled again for the last game,” said Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff. “Our deep bench will help us in this case.”
Loew, however, is hopeful Rudy and Mats Hummels would be available on Wednesday.