But the go-ahead goal didn’t come. It didn’t seem it would ever come. And then, in the blink of an eye, at the last possible moment, it did.
Germany restored its 2018 World Cup hopes with one swing of Toni Kroos’ right foot Saturday night, snatching a 2-1 victory over Sweden from the jaws of a draw that would have felt very much like a defeat.
The goal, five minutes into second-half added time, and only moments before the final whistle, gives Germany a strong shot of advancing to the round of 16 on a night that began with the team facing elimination. It came on a night when the Germans produced twice as many shots as Sweden, and enjoyed almost three times the possession, but still had to battle back from a 1-0 deficit at halftime, and then, in the final part of the game, play a man down after Jérôme Boateng was sent off with a red card.
“We never lost hope that we could turn the tide and win this match,” said Germany coach Joachim Loew, who six days ago boldly guaranteed his team would reach the knockout rounds. He said the winning goal was “obviously a bit of luck, but it is also a sign of us believing.”
The winner was, in fact, a stunner: a free kick on the left side that Kroos rolled a yard ahead to his teammate Marco Reus, who had scored Germany’s opening goal in the 54th minute. Reus stopped the ball and stepped back as Kroos took his full windup and curled a shot that went over two defenders, around goalkeeper Robin Olsen and then inside the right post.
But four changes to the line-up and the death rattle of an early exit erased any hint of listlessness on Germany’s part in this game. It was relentless early on, peppering the Swedes and often smothering them. And while Sweden fought hard, and even took the first-half lead, it eventually crumbled under the Germans’ pressure.
Over 90 minutes, the German strategy seemed rather simple: Push the ball up the centre or the wing, slot it wide, cross it back in and crash the net. If the Swedes cleared, the cycle would start all over: Collect the clearance out top, move the ball wide, cross it in. Even after Sweden took the 1-0 lead, the Germans just resumed their attack. Crosses, shots and more chances. Rinse and repeat.
“We didn’t lose our nerve,” Loew said. “We didn’t start breaking down in a panic after going down a goal. We kept our head.”
Three minutes into the second half, the strategy finally worked. Werner took a ball in hard on the left and cut back a low cross toward the halftime substitute Mario Gómez. The ball was a yard behind Gómez, and his outstretched trailing leg missed it. But that allowed it to continue on to Reus, and he turned it into Sweden’s net for the tying goal.
The Germans rejoiced, the Swedes’ shoulders dropped, and the pattern promptly continued. A pass wide, a cross in, a ball cleared, or blocked, or sent off target. And finally, in the 95th minute, another German goal.
Much earlier, in the 32nd minute, it had been Sweden that scored — out of almost nothing and against the run of play. An errant pass by Kroos in the center circle became, in two quick Swedish passes, a chance bouncing off the chest of forward Ola Toivonen in the German penalty area. Coolly controlling the ball under pressure, Toivonen brought it down and then calmly popped it over the charging goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
The Germans were stunned, and suddenly far, far closer to World Cup elimination than felt comfortable for a four-time champion playing only its second game here.
An hour later, it was the Swedes who sat stunned on the turf. Olsen, their beaten goalkeeper on the free kick, couldn’t bring himself to leave his 6-yard box. They have one group game left, against Mexico, and are still alive. But Kroos’ goal had changed everything.
© 2018 New York Times News Service