GERMANY 2 SWEDEN 1 IT’S KROOS
World champions power back into t
TONI KROOS saved Joachim Loew’s Germany with a lastgasp worldie.
The Real Madrid midfielder hit a brilliant goal from a free-kick to maintain Germany’s bid for back-toback triumphs.
Team-mate Marco Reus had forced home an equaliser three minutes into the second-half after Loew’s men were staring down the barrel in Sochi.
However, the strike had a touch of good fortune about it.
Timo Werner’s low cross from the left took two deflections.
But Reus nipped in front of his defender and managed to somehow steer the ball home off his knee. Until that point, Sweden’s game plan had worked perfectly. They were prepared to surrender possession, but exposed Germany’s frailties at the back when they sprang forward.
The Swedes shocked the crowd at the Fisht Stadium when they took a 32nd-minute lead.
Loew’s side had been panned for their sloppy show in the opener against Mexico – and they were at it again when they gave away the ball cheaply.
Viktor Claesson fed Ola Toivenen and the big forward produced the deftest of touches to break the deadlock.
But the Swedes also had cause to bemoan the VAR system after a controversial 12th-minute incident that should have earned them a penalty. Loew’s side had been gifted the b effecti the ne siege t
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