Thursday’s late night fixtures turned into a thrill-a-minute ride in the second half with Spain being stunned by Japan and Germany also squandering a 1-0 led to Costa Rica. Implications of the two games’ results had effects on all four times, with Spain’s defeat ultimately causing Germany to be knocked out and the Spaniards themselves being in danger of knocked out for a few minutes when Costa Rica led the Germans 2-1.
However, normal service was resumed at least at the Al Bayt Stadium when Kai Havertz, who had come on as a substitute only in the 66th minute for Thomas Muller, scored in the 73rd and 85th minutes to ensure a German win. Germany ultimately won the goal fest 4-2 but Japan’s 2-1 win over Spain meant that the 2014 champions only finished third on the table. It was the second consecutive time that Germany were knocked out of the World Cup in the group stage. Incidentally, they were pipped to the Round of 16 by Japan in the 2018 World Cup as well.
For much of the first halves of the two games, it looked like Germany and Spain would go through as was initially expected, with both sides leading 1-0 and the opposition not getting too many chances. However, the equation was turned on its head when Japan scored twice in the second half. Germany also started coming under pressure from the Costa Ricans, eventually squandering their 1-0 lead. However, the introduction of Havertz had injected new life in the German attack and they turned it around.
Havertz was player of the match for his efforts but he hardly looked chuffed to collect the award. “When it happens this way, it feels like watching like a horror movie. We learned during the match that Japan were leading, and then the rankings were displayed in the stadium. We still had a little hope that Spain would score. But then we noticed that the Japan match was over,” said Havertz.
Germany had lost 2-1 to Japan earlier. “When you go out twice in the first round and once in the round of 16, it’s extremely bitter. We have to be honest and say that for four years, everything hasn’t been going well. Now we’ve been knocked out twice in the group stage. I don’t think we’re a tournament team anymore,” he said.
