Lost the first game, came back in the second game with a late goal, at the end of the group stage a supposedly easier opponent: The constellation of the World Cup in Qatar is very reminiscent of that of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. At that time, the German national soccer team said goodbye after the preliminary round. The team of national coach Hansi Flick prevented this horror scenario by beating Spain 1-1 on Sunday evening – not least thanks to the support of Costa Rica. Flick’s statements show how relieved he was, and probably also that his tactical changes worked and, above all, the substitution of the internationally largely unknown Niclas Füllkrug contributed to the point win. But the knockout stage has not yet been reached.
What impression did the team make against Spain? How could Füllkrug’s role change after his successful World Cup debut? Is the three-man midfield made up of Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka and Ilkay Gündogan a permanent solution? And what kind of game can we expect against Costa Rica on Thursday? Presenter Anna Dreher talks about this in this episode with the two SZ football experts Christof Kneer and Martin Schneider.
Soccer Bundesliga, Champions League, sports policy at Fifa and DFB: “And now to sports”, the soccer podcast of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, gives insights into the most important soccer topic of the week. Every Monday, SZ sports editors discuss the background to current events.
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