Soccer
by Dirk Hofmeister
The German footballers started the Olympic tournament with a defeat. It was already 3-0 against Brazil in Yokohama at the break, before it got tight again in the second half.
The German soccer men lost their Olympic opening game of the Tokyo Summer Games against Brazil 2: 4 (0: 3). The team was partially presented by national coach Stefan Kuntz on Thursday (July 22nd, 2021), fought their way back to 2-3 after a 3-0 deficit before the 2-4 knockout came in stoppage time.
Kuntz: “Physically not up to par”
“We didn’t act well in building up the game, we played a lot of bad passes. We had little courage, we gave Brazil a lot of counter-actions,” said Kuntz immediately after the game in the Sportschau and added: “We had no access to the game. Brazil could have scored even more goals. My boys are not physically up to scratch. On the other hand, we saw what good preparation is all about. ” DFB goalkeeper Florian Müller said: “It was a brutally tough game for us. We had too much respect in the first half. Brazil brutally exploited that.”
The defeat appeared to have been determined by the middle of the first half and after a hat trick by Brazil attacker Richarlison. The Premier League striker from FC Everton used a defensive defense by Müller (7th), then hit with a head through the German central defense (22nd) and finally made the 3-0 with a flick into the far corner (30th) .).
New edition of the 2016 finals – DFB team not on an equal footing
The high lead at this early stage in the game was more than deserved. In a new edition of the 2016 Olympic finals, Brazil clearly dominated. The German team always seemed a step too slow, both mentally and physically. Bielefeld’s defender Amos Pieper, who was involved in all three goals conceded, made a particularly unfortunate figure.
His teammates were also not on par with the South Americans. Leipzig’s Benjamin Henrichs repeatedly lost his duels on the right wing, the strikers Max Kruse and Nadiem Amiri had little connection to the game.
Müller parries Cunha penalty
It was only thanks to goalkeeper Müller from VfB Stuttgart that it was not already 0: 4 at the break: First he saved in dire need against the breached Richarlison (15th), shortly before half-time he even parried one of Hertha player Matheus Cunha kicked penalty (45th + 3).
Even after the change, Müller was initially the most noticeable DFB kicker. Cunha (49th / 52nd), Dani Alves (54th), Bruno Guimaraes (75th) and Cunha (90th + 4) bit their teeth on the 23-year-old, Claudinho missed another big chance (53rd).
The fourth goal of the game was scored by a DFB kicker in the 56th minute: With the first real shot on the Brazilian housing, Amiri made it 1: 3 – from 16 meters and with a cut shot the category “durable”.
Yellow-red against Maximilian Arnold
In the next few minutes, the German team even had the upper hand in play and could hope for the second goal. Until the 63rd minute, when Maximilian Arnold, who had already been cautioned with yellow, saw the traffic light card for a foul in midfield. The dismissal was a real damper for the hopes of the DFB team.
Header to 2: 3 out of nowhere
Brazil wanted to take the win home easily. But a header from Ragnar Ache (82nd) to make it 2: 3 finally brought the Germans back into the game. Now the DFB-Elf pressed the equalizer. But even a long stoppage time was not enough for the 3: 3. Instead, Paulinho hit in stoppage time with a nice flick into the right angle to make the final 4-2 (90th + 4th).
Now against Saudi Arabia and the Ivory Coast
With the clear opening win, Brazil took over the lead in the preliminary round group D. The German team is currently last, but on Sunday (July 25th, 2021 /1.30 p.m. in the live center at sportschau.de) against Saudi Arabia and on Wednesday (July 28th, 2021 / 10:00 a.m.) against Ivory Coast the chance to reach the second place necessary for the quarter-finals.