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Germany were a minute away from putting them themselves in extreme danger. However, a brilliant last-minute free-kick ensured that the World Champions kept their place intact in the tournament.
Germany dominated early portions of the game and made it difficult for Sweden from forming passing combinations in their half. The German players have a knack of winning the ball back from the opposition as soon as the team loses the ball in the midfield.
Hence, there were a lot of open spaces at the centre of the park and here I analyze three points, which played an unintentional part in Sweden losing the match against Germany in the FIFA World Cup 2018:
#1 Wasting the numerous counter-attacks that they initiated
Sweden had been quite impressive prior to this game by clearly displaying their potent counter-attacking efficiency in the friendly matches as well as against South Korea. Against Germany too, they decided to play on the break and managed to score a goal through Toni Kroos’ misplaced half.
Whenever the Swedes broke on the counter-attack, they were let down by some poor decision making in the final third.
They showed incredible stamina and fitness to run up to the pitch in such short period of the time, but the players’ lack of ability to put things to place meant that the Swedes ended up wasting the number of chances that they created through these counter-attacking scenarios.
Even after scoring the first goal, Sweden looked content with the advantage and gave up such counter-attacking chances mostly due to lethargic passes or unsuccessful long-range attempts.
Janne Anderson’s team needs to form and circulate around a football identity, giving their fans a fair idea of what to expect from certain games.
However, Sweden’s diligence while defending against Germany were appreciable, there must be some attacking flair from the team for the fans, and the writers to analyze the match from a bigger perspective.
Anderson looks to be creating a thoroughly counter-attacking team as of now, but the team’s attacking endeavors are very inaccurate and wayward for them to even be identified with this philosophy so soon in the tournament.
#2 Adopting an ultra-defensive approach post-halftime
Going into the break with a one-goal advantage over their seemingly superior rivals, Sweden were content with their lead in the game and decided to protect that advantage throughout the next 45 minutes rather than pushing bodies forward to get a second goal, and eventually an even bigger lead too.
It has been constantly proven that a single goal deficit can be overturned within a matter of seconds and hence Sweden must have undertaken a much more positive approach in the last half hour or so.
Their tendency to absorb the waves of pressure that Germany inflicted on them meant that there would be a single moment where the Swedish defence would lose their concentration and that is when Germany would get their due back.
As a result, Die Mannschaft kept on attacking, through the wings, from the centre and even sending in long, diagonal balls from deeper areas. Marco Reus goal served as the equalizer before Kroos absolutely thumped a free kick in the last minute of the game to secure a victory in the game.
In the whole lot of last half, Sweden had chances to maintain, shield and then try out something creative from the possession of the ball.
However, a lack of patience resulted in them losing the ball in key areas and subsequently giving away an opportunity to double their lead and gain a better position in the match.
#3 Not exploiting Jerome Boateng’s sending off
The fact that Germany managed to bounce back and claim three points is even more interesting by the fact that Jerome Boateng had just been sent off with almost 15 minutes to go after having collected a second yellow card in the match.
This left a gaping hole at the heart of the defence and as Germany had to commit bodies forward to win all three points, they even left a lot of space between the midfield and the defensive lines.
With Sweden being a team that focuses solely on counter-attacking the opposition, this could have turned out to be an excellent opportunity for them to peg a goal back.
Instead, lack of ambition and game awareness meant that they still looked to defend first, rather than exploit the space in the opposition’s backline.
Germany, too, ensured that they regained possession of the ball as soon as they lost it by pressing the Swede players all over the pitch in the second half.
Boateng’s dismissal was the perfect opportunity for Sweden to seal the game, but tactical naivety combined with a general lack of ambition in the game resulted in their downfall in the match.
Germany continued to put pressure in the opposition box by constantly sending in quality deliveries into the box, but it required a splendid free-kick from Toni Kroos to put the game in the bed from the German’s perspective.
What did you think about Germany's win over Sweden? Sound off in the comments section below!
