World Cup Upset
LIVE: Ecuador Must Beat Germany
Ecuador pulled off a sensational upset at the World Cup, securing a spot in the knockout stage with a victory over Germany in the final Group E match.
Nilson Angulo (9th minute) and Gonzalo Plata (78th minute) led the South Americans to a 2-1 victory on Thursday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, securing their spot in the Round of 16 as one of the best third-place finishers. Germany, which had already secured first place in the group, took the lead in the second minute on a goal by Leroy Sané.
“Unfortunately, right after the goal, we started making some reckless positioning mistakes, and then it got tough,” Julian Nagelsmann lamented on MagentaTV. “What we need to learn is that after such a good start, we can play with even more confidence. It was frustrating that we let the opponent back into the game ourselves. Too much freestyle after the early lead,” the national team coach added on ARD.
Nagelsmann made changes to his starting lineup for the first time in the final group stage match, though—despite having already secured advancement—he made changes in only two positions. The two defenders, Antonio Rüdiger and David Raum, replaced the injured Nico Schlotterbeck and Nathaniel Brown. Nagelsmann had announced that he otherwise wanted to continue honing the starting lineup for the knockout stage. As a result, Deniz Undav—Germany’s top scorer in the tournament with three goals—had to take a seat on the bench again.
Fastest German World Cup Goal in 92 Years
Just 1:49 minutes into the game, the well-coordinated team had reason to celebrate when Sane finished confidently. It was fortunate for the Germans that referee Tori Penso did not call a high foot by Aleksandar Pavlovic against Pedro Vite, and the VAR did not intervene either. However, the joy over the fastest German World Cup goal since 1934 didn’t last long. Ecuador’s first shot on goal also found the net after Felix Nmecha lost the ball in midfield.
Ecuador, needing a win to advance, then put the German team under pressure. Toward the end of the first half, however, the Germans regained control of the game. The VAR dashed hopes of a lightning-fast start for the Germans in the second half as well. Penso awarded a penalty kick following a foul on Kai Havertz (46'), but a review revealed that Sane had committed a foul in the build-up to the play.
Ecuador fought to avoid elimination. Gonzalo Plata was unable to capitalize on a miscommunication between Jonathan Tah and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (72'), and Kevin Rodriguez was blocked at the last moment (77'). But the winning goal came from the resulting corner kick, as Plata poked the ball past Neuer into the net. Shortly before that, Sane (76') had missed the chance to score his second goal of the match. Germany thus failed to tie the national record of twelve consecutive wins set from May 1979 to June 1980 under Jupp Derwall. The DFB squad will continue in the Round of 32 on Monday (10:30 p.m. CEST) against a third-place team from another group.
“We got off to a good start and took an early lead. Then we lost possession too often again, which invited the opponent to attack and made them stronger. In the second half, it was a deserved loss. (...) Still, fortunately, nothing serious happened,” said captain Joshua Kimmich, adding: “We can’t afford another loss—that’s clear. We can’t concede one or two goals in every game. We have to minimize the number of times we lose possession. Then we can beat anyone.”
Ecuador – Germany 2–1 (1–1)
East Rutherford, 80,663, Referee Penso (USA)
Goals: 0–1 (2.) Sane, 1–1 (9.) Angulo, 2–1 (78.) Plata
Ecuador: Galindez - Franco (64. Preciado), Ordonez, Pacho, Hincapie (71. Estupinan) – M. Caicedo, Vite – Yeboah (85. Torres), Plata, Angulo (85. J. Caicedo) – Valencia (64. Rodriguez)
Germany: Neuer – Kimmich (60. Thiaw), Tah, Rüdiger, Raum – Nmecha (64. Beier), Pavlovic (46. Stiller) – Sané, Musiala, Wirtz (73. Gross) – Havertz (60. Undav)
Yellow cards: Hincapie, Franco, Plata and Pavlovic
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