Costa Rica vs Germany: Despite defeating Costa Rica 4-2 on Thursday evening, Germany has been eliminated from the FIFA World Cup in the group stages for the second time.
The victory was not enough for Hansi Flick’s team, as Japan defeated Spain 2-1 to go to the knockout stages.
Germany took the game to Costa Rica early, with Jamal Musiala forcing Keylor Navas into a brilliant stop within the first two minutes, as predicted.
Six minutes later, Thomas Muller would have his first serious opportunity in the game. The Bayern attacker was caught off guard by a magnificent looping Joshua Kimmich cross and failed to direct his ensuing header to the goal when he should have.
One minute later, a header from Leroy Sane found its way into the back of the goal. Former Manchester City midfielder glanced a David Raum cross from the left wing into the bottom right corner of the net. A fantastic header, and just what Germany deserved.
In the 15th minute, Leon Goretzka sprinted into the box to grab onto an Ilkay Gundogan cross, giving Germany another headed chance. However, Navas was on there this time to palm the attempt on goal clear of danger.
Following that, Costa Rica proceeded to defend every single open play scenario as if it were a corner kick, with at least three defenders in their own six-yard box at all times.
At the break, the Germans would generate a couple more opportunities to double their lead. Musial’s frantic run ended with him shooting just wide of the post, and his international and club teammate did the same a few minutes later, Cruyff turning his way past a Costa Rica defender before curling wide.
Surprisingly, it was almost 1-1 in the 42nd minute thanks to some terrible defense by Antonio Rudiger. Keyser Fuller grabbed onto the ball as Rudiger sliced a clearing back toward his own goal, but Manuel Neuer stopped the Costa Rica wide player’s following effort on goal.
In the other game, Germany sought to throw everything at Costa Rica by putting on Niclas Fullkrug after Japan came from behind to lead Spain 2-1.
Costa Rica (4-3-3)
GK: Keylor Navas, got a 7/10 because he made a great save later in the game.
CB: Oscar Duarte (6/10): Fought hard the whole time, especially when Germany crossed the ball into the box.
CB: Kendall Waston, they got a 7/10. For most of the first half, he just stood on his own goal line. In the second half, he helped set up the goal that tied the game.
CB: Juan Pablo Vargas (7/10): He scored the second goal in the most sloppy way possible.
RM: Keysher Fuller got 5/10 because he missed the only chance Costa Rica had in the first half.
CM: Celso Borges gets a 6/10 because he works very hard off the ball for his team.
Yeltsin Tejeda got a 7/10 because he scored his first goal for his country at the best time.
LM: Bryan Oviedo got a 6/10 because the player who used to play for Sunderland and Everton did a good job defending on his side.
Brandon Aguilera played right wing, but he didn’t do anything, so he was taken out at halftime.
ST: Johan Venegas got a 5/10 because he worked hard for his team, but he didn’t add much to it.
LW: Joel Campbell (6/10): This was the out ball for Costa Rica, and it worked pretty well.
Substitutes
Youstin Salas (6/10): Offered a lot more than Christina Aguilera, which isn’t saying much.
SUB – Jewison Bennette – 5/10
SUB – Ronald Matarrita – 5/10
Roan Wilson’s sub: N/A.
Anthony Contreras is not a sub.
Manager: Luis Fernando Suarez (5/10): You can’t do much when there’s such a big difference in quality, can you? Still, his team fought bravely against a team that was much better than Costa Rica.
Germany (4-2-3-1)
Manuel Neuer, the goalkeeper, got a 3/10 because he should have done better for both goals. He seemed his age.
Joshua Kimmich, right back, got a 4/10 because he didn’t move the ball as quickly as he should have at right-back or in the middle of the field.
CB: Niklas Sule – 2/10 – Let’s be honest: a real spade would have been a better defender at this World Cup than Sule.
CB: Antonio Rudiger, 3/10. He almost gave the other team a goal when he tried to clear the ball badly in the first half, and he didn’t get much better after that.
LB: David Raum, 6/10. His beautiful cross set up the game’s first goal.
CM: Leon Goretzka, 5/10. He was taken off the field at halftime.
Ilkay Gundogan, the central midfielder, got a 4/10 because he didn’t do much and was taken off for a striker in the 55th minute.
RM: Serge Gnabry got 7/10 because he did a great job of flicking Raum’s cross into the goal and setting up the third goal.
AM: Jamal Musiala got a 7/10. He was once again very lively and hit the post twice.
LM: 5/10 for Leroy Sane. He wasn’t great, but he did help out.
ST: Thomas Muller got a 2/10 because he missed a great opportunity in the first five minutes and was bad overall.
Substitutes
Lukas Klostermann got a 5/10 for his performance when he was on.
Niclas Fullkrug came on as a sub and got a 7/10. Keylor Navas stopped him from scoring, but he scored late in the game.
SUB: Mario Gotze – 5/10
Kai Havertz, who came on as a substitute, scored Germany’s second and third goals (8/10). This was a really great cameo.
Matthias Ginter – SUB – N/A.
Hansi Flick‘s substitutions helped Germany get back into the game, but he probably should have put Fullkrug upfront from the start. It’s pretty bad to lose in the group stage with such a good team.
Kai Havertz was the game’s best player.
