Germany Survives Ivory Coast Scare
- Staff Writer
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
Credit Sky Sports
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
By: Richard Strickland
Germany vs Ivory Coast had the potential for another World Cup shocker. It was obvious coming into this match up that Germany was the likely favorite to win as they have the highest goal total in match day 1.
Germany had the pressure early on with a shot on goal just 1 minute into the match from Havertz, unfortunately it went just over the cross bar. Havertz wasn’t done there either he tried again just 9 minutes later however Fofana did what he did last week and came up with a big save in the 10th minute off of a header.
Ivory Coast would get their first attempt in the 12th minute, but it would be blocked and Germany would continue the pressure with a beautiful shot from Musiala that would go inches wide. Then, 3 minutes later, Nmecha got a shot off that hit the top of the post; this shot led to a corner that Brown would take. Germany thought they got the opening goal off the corner, but Pavlovic wrapped arms with Fofana, which negated the goal.
At the hydration break in the 25th minute, the score was 0-0 as Germany had so many chances but nothing to show from it. However, 5 minutes after the break in the 30th minute, Ivory Coast created a good run up the left side that was played into the box, where Diallo’s shot was stopped by Neuer. The ball popped right to Kessie, who put it into the back of the net to give Ivory Coast a 1-0 lead late into the first half.
Ivory Coast had another chance in the 38th minute but Neuer got to the ball and sent it up the field quickly. The ensuing play led to the ball in the back of Ivory Coast’s net, however this time Musiala had kicked his leg out, fouling Kossounou during the build up and waving off a second goal for Germany.
At half Germany had been the better team but has also played without discipline having 2 goals waved off because of fouls. Ivory Coast on the other hand was just trying to not get worn out too early, possibly allowing Germany to get right back into this.
Ivory Coast would come out with more pressure on the attack than was seen in the first half. Multiple key chances within the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half included a cross Kessie inside the box, but the ball was played just away from him in the 50th minute. Then, in the 56th minute, Diomande missed just wide as he had to rush his shot.
The 64th minute saw Germany come up just feet away on a corner to tie it as they got Fofana out of position. Unfortunately, they missed just wide. In the 66th minute a pass from Brown would be tapped by an Ivory Coast defender, which allowed a corner kick that Fofana would punch away as he was “fouled”, but no card would be seen for anyone.
Germany would finally break into the score sheet with Undav grabbing a goal off a cross from Amiri that he would lift above a diving Fofana. It was the result of a quick build up from the middle of the pitch out wide and then sent in to the box. This is the Germany many of us expected to see today.
In the 78th minute after the hydration break Brown got in behind but his pass in the box was intercepted. The pass led to an ensuing chance for Ivory Coast but without any support, the ball was played back to try and build something up.
In the 82nd minute, Ivory Coast would get another interception and get into the attacking zone where Germany would foul Ivory Coast just by the touch line, allowing for another long chance for Ivory Coast. Nothing would come from the initial attempt as Ivory Coast would have to settle for a corner, which wouldn’t amount to much.
Germany would get their next real chance in the 86th minute, but the shot was right at Fofana, not challenging him at all. In the 88th minute Germany got a huge break as Ivory Coast had a counterattack. Pepe went down the right side and passed it to Adingra, who would hesitate to pull the trigger, allowing Germany to get the ball and come back the other way where they would get a beautiful chance from Brown; Fofana would stop it low. Brown could not believe their luck.
Just into stoppage time Amiri had a chance to get a goal of his own, but ended up with a weak shot that was easy for Fofana to stop. About a minute later, Germany would try from distance but it was again right at Fofana in goal.
Undavo would sneak just onside in the 4th minute of stoppage time to put one past Fofana to give Germany a 2-1 lead with very little time for Ivory Coast to counter. That would be all from Toronto as Germany stole this one from Ivory Coast in stoppage time.
Ratings -
Germany: A-
Germany got the win, but it didn’t look like a normal Germany type win. They had 6 high scoring chances but only 2 were good, with 4 missing. This is something that Germay will have to clean up as they look forward to their final group game against Ecuador on the 25th.
Ivory Coast: A+
Fofana needs to be celebrated in the Ivory Coast as he is the biggest reason this wasn’t a blow out today. Facing 16 shots with 6 big chances and only allowing 2 goals despite many chances making him work. He wasn’t the only one, though, who played well for Ivory Coast, as Diomande played very well keeping pressure on the German back line the entire time he was on the pitch. The subs Pepe and Adingra almost created a different story for Ivory Coast who will look to grab a win on the 25th as well against Curacao as the group is still open.
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