Two amazing games today. Filled with tension, excitement, and occasionally some real skill. This World Cup continues to deliver.
France 2 – 0 Nigeria
This was the best performance by Nigeria so far. They looked worlds better than the team who were stultifying in the opening match against Iran, or the team who looked lost in the wilderness in a pre-tournament warmup match against the US. The first half was absolutely frantic on both sides. Not the finest quality play, but enthralling to watch. Really surprising that no goals went in.
France got pretty lucky here. There was an awful tackle from Matuidi that could easily have produced a red card. But he escaped and they were able to grow into the game. The huge switch happened when Griezmann came on. I was a little surprised he didn’t start, actually. Once he was on the pitch the French attack grew a lot more lively. Giroud had done very little, and replacing him with Griezmann gave them a lot more inventiveness in the midfield, and his movement really troubled the Nigeria defense, which then let Benzema slide into the open spaces left behind. From about 70 minutes on the pressure was incredibly intense and it seemed only a matter of time before France scored. They held on for a while thanks in large part to some great saves by Enyeama. But eventually Enyeama made a mistake, tapped a ball to the head of Pogba who slotted it in. After that, Nigeria looked pretty thoroughly beaten and the only real question was whether France would score more.
Not the MOST impressive display from France, but more than enough to get the job done. A bit shaky for the first hour but high quality in the last third of the match. They remain a serious threat to anyone who has to play them.
Germany 2 – 1 Algeria (aet)
What a fantastic game! Algeria started out excellently, with a blistering pressing game and a rapid series of pouncing attacks. Germany seemed quite bewildered and took a good 20 or 30 minutes to start settling down. If not for some serious sweeping efforts by Neuer in goal (who raced out of his box to close down attacking players who had beaten the defenders probably a dozen times over the course of the game), they could very easily have conceded several goals. The lack of Mats Hummels was keenly felt, I think, since he is only of the only players in their standard backline who is a bit mobile.
I’ve been wondering all tournament why they are so insistent on playing Lahm in midfield, and this game gave us a good chance to see both sides of the issue. Due to an injury, Lahm was forced to move back to fullback about 70 minutes in. This coincided with one of the strongest periods for Germany, as his overlapping attacks were far more useful than his defensive midfield work had been. On the other hand, the back four was dangerously exposed on several occasions, suggesting that Khedira and Schweinsteiger just don’t have the defensive chops to really handle this position anymore.
As regular time came to a close, Germany was pounding the ball into the box and creating chance after chance, none of which would go in. It became almost comical after a while, and the humor was enormously compounded by a Keystone Cops of a free kick that (as with that incredibly terrible Rooney corner) was one of the most joyful and absurd moments of the whole tournament.
So it went to extra time, and Germany almost immediately scored on an absolutely delectable shot from Schurrle, who hit a backheel while contorting himself to get the right angle. One of the finishes of the tournament for sure.
And for a bit it seemed that Algeria might fold at this point, but they managed to struggle back and hung on for a while longer. Both teams were clearly tired and far less precise, and it eventually bit them as they let Germany pass it around in the box long enough for Özil to get an open shot on goal. Since there were only two minutes left at this point, it all seemed over. And I actually think the Algerian defender on the line really needed to Suarez the shot (meaning: stop it with his hand…not bite it). Yes, you’ll get sent off, but at least it forces them to convert the penalty rather than get an automatic second goal. Still, it seemed pretty unlikely that they’d score anyways…until they almost immediately did. And they did manage one final shot just as time expired, but sadly for all us non-Germans it failed to go in, and we were robbed of any more excitement.
Still, this was a ludicrously fun game, and it’s sad to see Algeria go out. Which is crazy, since they were easily the least watchable team of the 2010 World Cup.
So: we’ll have a Germany-France quarterfinal. For all the storied success of these teams, they’ve only met three times in the World Cup before. Germany knocked France out of the 1982 and 1986 tournaments, both times in the semifinals, with that 1982 match often being referred to as one of the all-time classics. And, of course, Germany invaded France a couple times in some big wars. So the French definitely have some historical aggression to work off here.
Neither team was at their most impressive today, but both were still pretty good. I don’t see any reason to change my initial prediction of a German win, though I continue to think that it’s pretty finely balanced.