GERMAN MENTAL STRENGTH ON SHOW AS THEY COME FROM BEHIND AGAINST SWEDEN

Germany mental strength was on show last night as they fought back from a goal down against Sweden to register their first win at the 2018 FIFA World Cup with virtually the last kick of the match.

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After their shock defeat to Mexico in the first outing in Russia, Joachim Löw men needed to win this match while the Swedes could do with a draw after winning their opening match against South Korea.

They started well, creating a number of openings which gave them the confidence that they will get the result they wanted but on the half hour mark, Toni Kroos pass was intercepted by Sebastian Larrson.

The ball was spreaded wide to Viktor Claesson who then made a searching pass that eventually found Ola Toivonen who made his run into the box. The Toulouse forward then just lifted the ball over the advancing Manuel Neuer to give his team the lead.

The holders needed to come up with something special but the way they performed for the rest of the first half it looked like they were on their way home from the group stage, emulating the fates of France (2002), Brazil (2010) and Spain (2014).

Whatever Löw did in the dressing room during the interval was highly effective as his men came out blazing in the second half and just three minutes into it the score was level.

Timo Werner made a run down the left hand side before delivering a low ball across the Swedish goal. Mario Gomez missed it but Marco Reus did not, connecting with the ball with the upper part of his leg which was enough to divert it past the stranded Robin Olsen.

The Copenhagen goalkeeper then proceeded to frustrated the Germans with a number of brilliant saves and it looked like Olsen had done enough to ensure a point for his side as the match entered it’s fifth minute of stoppage time.

The Germans were playing with just ten men after defender Jérōme Boateng received his second yellow card in the 82nd minute and were looking for a break, especially after seeing substitute Julian Brandt hitting the post with a shot from outside the box earlier.

It came when a foul by substitute Jimmy Durmaz presented Germany with a free-kick just outside the Sweden penalty box. A short tap by Tony Kroos to Reus set the Real Madrid player for a shot that had Olsen completely beaten and lifted the holders into second place.

UNLUCKY SOUTH KOREA LEFT REELING AFTER DEFEAT BY MEXICO

South Korea bowed out from the 2018 FIFA World Cup after losing for the second time in their Group F fixtures. This time it was against Mexico who caused an upset by defeating holders, Germany during their opening match.

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It was quite unlucky for the Koreans when they went behind to a penalty in the 26th minute after Serbian referee, Milorad Mazic pointed to the spot when the ball hit Jang Hyun Soo’s hand while trying to block a cross by Andrés Guardado.

Former Arsenal forward, Carlos Vela converted the penalty to give El-Tri the lead and made the match more open as the Asian side tried to find the equaliser. However the Taeguk Warriors could not find an opening to beat Guillermo Ochoa between the Mexican posts. 

They fell further behind in the 66th minute in a rather unfortunate fashion. The Koreans were in a dominating spell with successive attempts launched at Mexico.

The match officials should have spotted a foul when Guardado clipped a Korean player feet in his attempt to win the ball which subsequently found it’s way to Javier Hernández who beat goalkeeper, Kim Seung-Gyu with a low shot.

After pushing hard all match, finally South Korea managed to get a goal when Song Heung-Min’s shot from outside the box rendered Ochoa helpless but it came too little too late to keep them in the tournament.

BRACES FOR LUKAKU & HAZARD AS BELGIUM STROLL PAST TUNISIA

It was a stroll in the park for Belgium as they scored five past Tunisia during their 2018 FIFA World Cup match played at the Otkritie Arena in Moscow.

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Belgium opened the scoring in the sixth minute when their captain, Eden Hazard slotted home a penalty after he was brought down inside the box by Tunisia defender, Syam Ben Youssef.

The Red Devils went two goals ahead after sixteen minutes when Romelo Lukaku made a composed finish after receiving a pass from Dries Mertens.

However Tunisian hopes were raised two minutes later when Dylan Bronn headed the ball past Thibaut Courtois from a free-kick by Wahbi Khazri.

Lukaku then made it 3-1 in the third minute of the stoppage time at the end of the first half when he dinked the ball over Tunisia goalkeeper, Farouk Ben Mustapha after a good run by Thomas Meunier on the right.

It was 4-1 six minutes into the second half when Kevin De Bruyne released Hazard in the middle and the Chelsea man remained composed to slot the ball past Farouk.

It got worse for Tunisia in the 90th minute when Michy Batsuayi latched onto a pass from the right and slotted it past Farouk who had denied the Borussia Dortmund player from scoring on two occasions earlier.

Khazri restored some pride for Tunisia when he slotted the ball past Courtois deep into stoppage time from a cutback but by then Belgium already confirmed as the winner of the match and a place in the knockout round.

SWITZERLAND COMEBACK FROM BEHIND AGAINST SERBIA

Switzerland came back from trailing to an early goal to collect all three points against Serbia from their 2018 FIFA World Cup Group E match played at the Kaliningrad Stadium in Kaliningrad.

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The Serbs had a dream start when striker, Alekxandar Mitrović headed home a cross from Dušan Tadić in the fifth minute. The Newcastle United player had an earlier effort saved by Swiss goalkeeper, Yann Sommer.

Just before halftime, his opposite number, Vladimir Stojković denied Switzerland the equaliser when he managed to push away a Blerim Džemaili effort which was on target.

However, Switzerland only needed seven minutes into the second half to pull level when Granit Xhaka hit a first timer from outside the penalty box after the initial shot by Xherdan Shaqiri was blocked.

Then just around the hour mark, Shaqiri saw his effort hit the Serbs’ crossbar as Valdimir Petković’s boys grew in confidence. 

Both teams were going for the winner but it was The Swiss who  managed to get it when from a quick break in the last minute of regulation time.

Shaqiri latched onto a pass by Xhaka before holding off the challenge from Duško Tošić before slotting the ball past Stojković to seal all three points for Switzerland which moved to second place with the place in the knockout phase seemed almost certain.

MUSA BRACE GAVE NIGERIA VICTORY OVER ICELAND

Ahmad Musa scored a brace as Nigeria came alive in the second half in their 2018 FIFA World Cup match against Iceland played at the Volgograd Arena in Volgograd.

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After their defeat against Croatia on their opener Nigeria needed to get the points on board in order to qualify for the next round. Having held the much favoured Argentina to a draw on their first ever World Cup finals match, Iceland took the field with high confidence.

Despite that there were not many chances created by both sides in the first 45 minutes with Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick for Iceland that was saved by goalkeeper, Francis Ozuho the closest moment to come to a goal.

However the match came alive in the second. Musa in his attempt to control a pass from Victor Moses lifted the ball up and allowed it to come down before hitting a half-volley past Iceland goalkeeper, Hannes Halldorssón four minutes after the restart.

Iceland tried to make a comeback but Musa struck again fifteen minutes from time when his pace brought him past defender, Kári Árnason and after taking it past Halldorssón picked his spot to slot home his second goal of the match.

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) came into play when Björn Sigurdarson was deemed to have brought been brought down by defender, Kenneth Omeruo in the penalty area. However Sigurdsson could not keep his spot-kick down despite Ozuho going the wrong way.

At the final whistle, Nigeria registered their first win and this would set up nicely for the final group matches when they face Argentina while Iceland take on the already qualified Croatia.

STOPPAGE TIME HEARTBREAK FOR COSTA RICA

Heartbreak for Costa Rica tonight when they went down 2-0 to Brazil after holding their fort intact for the full ninety minutes of their 2018 Fifa World Cup match.

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The Central American side put out a resolute performance to held Neymar & co. at bay and even survive a penalty decision when Dutch referee, Bjorn Kuipers had judged that Neymar had been pulled down in the penalty area by a Costa Rica defender.

However it was later rescinded by the referee after watching the replay of the incident on video at the review area and instead awarded a free kick to Óscar Ramírez’s side.

Real Madrid goalkeeper, Keylor Navas was inevitably the busier goalkeeper as Brazil peppered his goal with shots from the first whistle.

Having drawn their opening match against Switzerland, Brazil needed to win and they went all out to ensure all three points would come their way. 

However, they came up against a Costa Rica side determined not to go home early, having lost their opening match against Serbia 1-0 in a match played at the Cosmos Arena in Samara. 

Navas did what was required and he and his team-mates were six minutes away from picking up their first point as the match entered stoppage time.

A cross from Marcelo into the box was headed down by Roberto Firmino and Neymar tried to control it. However, Philippe Coutinho made a darting run into the box and slotted it between Navas legs much to the delight of all Brazillians around the world.

Then as the stoppage time entered it’s seventh minute, Gabriel Jesus who had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half laid the ball for Neymar to score his first goal of the tournament and seal all three points for the South Americans side.