Keeper says no to man-of-match award
Germany didn’t play the way they usually play. Coach Joachim Loew wasn’t sure why.
Stymied by Mexico’s skillful forwards and speedy counterattacks, the defending World Cup champions played a sloppy first half, gave up too many chances and ultimately conceded a Hirving Lozano goal that held up in Mexico’s 1-0 victory yesterday.
‘‘We looked nervous and we were not able to play the way we wanted to play,’’ Loew said. ‘‘We will have to analyse why that was the case.’’
It was the shock result of a day when Brazil were held to a surprise 1-1 draw by Switzerland in Group E, and Serbia went to the top of that group by beating Costa Rica 1-0 thanks to a stunning free kick by Aleksandar Kolarov.
Germany are now in an unfamiliar position. The squad had not lost a World Cup opener since 1982 and won their four previous initial matches by a combined score of 20-2.
For defending World Cup champions, however, the situation is more common. Three of the past four have failed to make it out of the group stage.
Reminded of that statistic, Loew offered a guarantee.
‘‘We will not suffer that fate,’’ he said. ‘‘We will make it to the next round.’’
Germany’s path through Group F includes a match against Sweden on Sunday, and they then face South Korea on June 28.
‘‘As far as the psychological situation, everyone is unhappy, crestfallen,’’ Loew said.
‘‘We have to look forward. We have to put this behind us. Our team certainly has experience dealing with losses, and the next match will be decisive for us. We have to win it. It goes without saying.’’
Although they breezed through qualifying, the Germans had enough questionable results in recent friendlies to put fans on edge, and Loew was questioned for leaving 22-year-old Manchester City winger Leroy Sane out of his squad.
The coach instead opted for another 22-year-old attacker, Julian Brandt, who entered late in the match and blasted a shot just wide of the Mexican goal about two minutes later that had Loew covering his face with his hands.
Germany beat Mexico 4-1 in last year’s Confederations Cup while sporting a younger lineup.
‘‘I believe we have a relatively young team here. The average age isn’t too high,’’ Loew said. ‘‘Last year at the Confederations Cup, it was a completely different situation. You can’t compare the two.’’
Brazil later joined the list of big teams struggling to win their opening matches, following Argentina who were held to a 1-1 draw by Iceland on Sunday, and Spain and Portugal who finished 3-3 on Saturday.
❚ Group E: Brazil 1 (Coutinho 20) Switzerland 1 (Zuber 50), Costa Rica 0 Serbia 1 (Kolarov 56)
❚ Group F: Germany 0 Mexico 1 (Lozano 35)
❚ Wednesday matches (NZT): Colombia v Japan, 12am; Poland v Senegal, 3am; Russia v Egypt, 6am
Philippe Coutinho, who was making his World Cup debut, gave Brazil the lead in the 20th minute with a volley that bounced in off the right post. Steven Zuber then headed in the equaliser in the 50th.
Mexican referee Cesar Ramos dismissed complaints that Zuber had shoved defender Miranda before getting to the corner from Xherdan Shaqiri.
‘‘I was pushed out of the way. There is video of what happened and the referee could have seen it. But it didn’t happen,’’ Miranda said. ‘‘We got a draw but this is only the beginning for us. We knew this game wasn’t going to be easy.’’
Ramos also ignored a penalty claim late in the second half when Gabriel Jesus was wrestled to the ground by Switzerland defender Manuel Akanji.
Swiss players ended up with three yellow cards, and 10 of the An Egypt team official has confirmed goalkeeper Mohamed Elshenawy declined to receive a player of the match trophy at the World Cup for religious reasons.
The trophy, an artistic red goblet, is sponsored by Budweiser. Islam prohibits the consumption of alcohol.
Egypt team director Ihab Leheta told The Associated Press yesterday that Elshenawy said a ‘‘few words’’ and posed for photos in a brief ceremony, but did not take the goblet. He gave no other details.
The 29-year-old Elshenawy won the award after his impressive performance in the 1-0 loss to Uruguay on Saturday. He made a string of stunning saves before Uruguay clinched the win with a goal in the 89th minute.
Images of Elshenawy gesturing what appears to be a rejection of the trophy held by
14 fouls they committed were on Brazil forward Neymar.
Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic described the incident against Miranda as an ‘‘ordinary challenge’’. He also dismissed charges that Neymar had been treated harshly.
‘‘Of course, neutralising Neymar was a key ingredient of our game,’’ he said. a young Budweiser representative in the stadium’s tunnel appeared on social and mainstream media. Budweiser is among Fifa’s top sponsors.
Egypt, in the World Cup for the first time in 28 years, is one of five countries competing in Russia with a Muslim majority population. The others are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Morocco and Tunisia.
Switzerland dominated the midfield for long spells against a Brazil team that had been keen to start with a win after their disastrous exit as hosts in 2014.
Brazil have won 17 of their 22 matches since Tite took over as coach in 2016. But they couldn’t get another one in front of a very Brazil-friendly crowd at the Rostov Arena.