WC 2018 Group F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea

Wow.. Just wow...

Big credit to South Korea.... Fair and square. They played their hearts out.

Respect.

 

To whom should Mexico send the roses? To Germany for their incompetence or South Korea for their perseverance?

 

Okay. First congratulations to South Korea. Defensivly a great performance.

We now faced three teams who play the same way and we struggled/lost against all of them. Park the Bus and press until you can counter. Add some antics and timewasting and shit will happen.

All three teams never intended to play the game. They just prevented Germany from scoring. Thats a valid tactic. Intercept=Pass to the Striker=Run. Mexico got it. Sweden got it. South Korea got it. Just Joachim Löw never got it. Tiki Taka, short passes, possession play..thats gone. Thats dead. You cant win 2018 with the tactics from 2010/14.

And we need to adapt. Again.

 

We saw this in the Euros vs Italy and France too. All possession and no attempts at scoring...just passing the ball around.

 

Exactly. It suddenly looked like football from another century. Löw needs to go. We need to return to defending. Thats the way to play now.

 

I am not sure if you understand that time wasting is punished by adding that wasted time. When Marcus Berg needs 2 minutes to leave the field for being replaced then we will have 2 minutes added. Korea needed almost 3 minutes for a corner.

 

once again, italy proves that they are the only team that can defeat germany in the knockout stages...

 

Words can't describe how happy I am right now. Congratulations to Mexico for advancing as well! Hopefully, we'll meet Switzerland/Serbia in the R16 rather than Brazil. But then again, Sweden has faced at least one South American opponent in every single WC that we have participated in, so maybe it's our fate?

 

I questioned this German team's hunger and weak mentality back in April here. They couldn't find the right mix of World Cup Winners of 2014 and the younger players. Löw trusted mostly his favourite players and failed to integrate more new faces. The weak qualfying group, the Confederations Cup win with the reserve squad, the victory of the U21 in the European Championships. Everything seemed just too perfect. But it was deceiving. I made a post here about the lack of focus, lack of desire and hunger, no believe in a repeat. I also pointed out Germany's previous disappointments when they entered the World Cup as title holder to back up my scepticism. I was right about this team would fail rather sooner than later. I predicted Germany to go to the quarter-finals and exit most likely against Colombia there. I was too kind to the Germans as we all know now. This team produced the biggest embarassement in the history of German Football. First-time group stage exit in a World Cup.

 

Good luck to you guys. You did your part and you won the group. Hope you go far.

 

Thank you. Since it's the 60th anniversary since Sweden's silver medal, I hope that the surviving players (like the guy in my profile pic) will be able to witness a repeat. Not that likely but you never know...

It's such a strange feeling seeing Germany out already, but I remember them being in a decline when I first started watching football in the late 90s/early 00s. I think Euro 2004 was the latest one before this? Still, their dominance lasted for well over a decade, and will of course reappear at some point in the future.

 

none of the teams in this group were good. sweden was very average. mexico was poor. germany was poor. south korea was poor. sweden would have finished last in most other groups. heck, all 4 teams in this group would probably have finished last in most other groups. sweden and mexico were lucky to be in this group. on the other hand we have groups like group B in which 2 good teams Iran and morocco don't advance; all 4 teams in group B could have topped this group.

 

Lol

 

Any of these four teams could have advanced in any other group. Sweden were clutch when it matters - against Italy, Korea, Mexico and they should've drawn Germany. Mexico can trouble anyone on any day and can never be counted out; the confederation is hot garbage right now but Mexico stand way at the top. Korea can play; they just keep gifting PKs to opposing teams. Germany was ranked 1st on FIFA and 2nd on ELO ratings... this is not an anomaly. They are a good team that has played a winning strategy, but were finally exposed by better tactics and opposing managers (and their own downfall through hubris).

The trolling, salt and delusion from Iranian fans is incredible. They need to get over the fact that Iran has never made it out of the group stage for a reason; a talented, organized yet frustrating side that just isn't quite good enough. They wouldn't have made it out of this group either.

 

First time 4 AFC teams have won a game at the WC - congrats Korea!

 

No I'm laughing at you...

No, 3 German goals would have. SK won 2-0, did you not watch?

Luck didn't earn Mexico 6 points and luck wasn't the reason Iran failed to qualify. Had your team gotten the job done we could've been talking about how poor Portugal was. Instead we can focus on how your 3 points came from an own goal in stoppage time to powerhouse morocco.

 

I’ve seen this before.

Next is the discussion about being failed by their German coach and playing too may players from their domestic league.

 

4 of the last 5 World Champions are eliminated in the preliminary round. Maybe the Germans were no hungry for the world title. The world championship title is the greatest thing for a football player. Many former and current world stars have never made it. If you make it, sometimes motivation is missing. Maybe they also underestimated the situation. Maybe thex underestimated the other teams. Germany has not been in top form since 2017. The Confed Cup was great. But then it was downhill. The shape. Lost against Austria, won lucky against Saudi Arabia. Regarding the Germans, they are always said to be a tournament team. Friedly matches are not important for them.But at big tournaments you can see the real German team. That did not work this time. Maybe some world champions from 2014 just got worse. Müller, Khedira, Ozil. Important players like Klose, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Mertesacker are gone. They new players could not replace the players. There just missed the class. Klose scored the most goals in World Cup history. And he was also important to the team. Klose, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Mertesacker were also personalities.

This is the worst day in history of german football.

 

Overall, justice was done in this group. Sweden was the best team and Mexico second best. Germany sucked through out.

 

no

 

I tried to get a free taco salad at a Mexican restaurant today by telling them I was Korean but it didn't work for some reason... anyhoo, congrats Korea, Sweden, and I guess Mexico too