Germany went in the footsteps of the champions

Germany went in the footsteps of the champions

The Germany national team in the first match of the World Cup lost to Mexico, 0:1, thus approaching the repetition of the champions’ results in the previous Mondials.

The historical tendency, which has evolved over the past twenty years, shows that the winner of the World Cup doesn’t qualify from the group in the next tournament. That happened with the national teams of France and later Italy and Spain.

The match between Germany and Mexico became indicative in terms of preparation. The Germans lacked concentration from the beginning of the encounter, which is not peculiar for Joachim Low’s team. The Mexicans went ahead and cut the nominal hosts’ lines with vertical passes. With Khedira, who couldn’t keep up, the Aztecs jumped out on Neuer’s goal in the numerical advantage and on the thirty third minute scored a goal thanks to Lozano.

It is noteworthy that having scored a goal, the national team from North America did not close, but continued to spring at the Germans’ each loss of the ball. By the way, Bundesteam lost the ball sixteen times during the game, which is four times more than in Chicharito and company.

Regarding positioning on the pitch, Low’s team pressed on Ochoa’s goal, using for attacks mainly the right wing. Joshua Kimmich has gotten used to develop the team’s attacks, as he did this throughout last season in Bayern. At the same time, Plattenhardt and Draxler on the opposite wing were not so productive.

It is necessary to pay tribute to Guillermo Ochoa, who is cementing the Mexicans’ goal in the second Mondial in a row. The goalkeeper’s save after Kroos’ free kick shot became indicative. Marquez should also be mentioned, for whom the tournament in Russia became the fifth one in his career.

“We are disappointed, for us it is completely abnormal situation. We have to make peace with that and learn the lesson for the next matches to perform better.

We played badly in the first half. Lost the ball, didn’t take advantage of the open zones and had to move a lot more because of that. After the break, Mexico sat quite deeply and we had our goal moments. On Monday we will analyze  what has happened. It is always unpleasant to lose  the debut match. Well then we will win the next one.”

Mexico cannot be called the dark horse of the international tournament now. Thanks to a number of swift footballer in the person of Lozano, Chicharito and Layun in the midfield, the Aztecs manage to productively accelerate counter-attacks and act smart in position play. Germany played terriby. The Germans lacked physical conditions and constructive at Ochoa’s goal. Mexico turned out to be wholesome, and their team play significantly exceeded Low’s pragmatic side, which is weird to hear for the past eight years.