Germany stave off stubborn Guinea, qualify for Round of 16

Germany had to dig deep, but managed to clinch a 3-1 win over Guinea in their final Group C tie at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, sealing a place in the Round of 16 courtesy of finishing second in their group.

Goals from a Jann-Fiete Arp, Nicolas Kuehn and Sahverdi Cetin were enough for the Germans to notch a tight win over the African side, who had equalised through right back Ibrahima Soumah midway through the first half. With the win, Germany have set up a Round of 16 clash against Colombia in New Delhi on Monday. The European giants began the game well. Fiete-Arp was brought down by Guinea centre back Ismael Traore just outside the box in the very first minute of the game, earning the latter a yellow card.

The Germans continued to raid the Guinean half, and seven minutes later, Traore made a disastrous error when his attempted clearance hit an opponent and fell into the path of Arp.Arp had enough time to adjust and finish past the goalkeeper as Germany took a 1-0 lead.Guinea responded well after conceding the early goal. In the 15th minute, forward Doss Soumah was well-positioned to take a shot, but his attempt went well wide of the target.Right back Ibrahima saw a long range effort of his in the 23rd minute go just wide of the bar.Two minutes later, however, Guinea equalised. The German backline failed to clear a ball inside their half during an attack by their opponents. It fell to Ibrahima Soumah, who calmly finished from close range.

Guinea piled on the pressure after equalising. Elhadj Bah’s attempt in the 32nd minute, when he turned and took a shot, was just wide of the goal. Nine minutes later, Doss Soumah failed to reach the end of a pass that was safely grabbed by German custodian Luca Plogmann.