Germany were one of the first teams to clinch advancing to the Round of 32, as they were official group winners as early as they defeated Ivory Coast on Matchday 2. However, despite this victory, Die Mannschaft would have to wait until as late as two days before the Round of 32 match to find out their opponent — which we now know is Paraguay.
“I think you’re a bit punished as a group winner. We divided up the potential opponents. I watched three or four matches, and the analysis team did as well.
Everyone can imagine there are better ways to spend Saturday night than working through it. It will be an all-nighter; we want to have large parts of it prepared so we don’t have to create the match plan in a huge rush on Sunday. We’ll manage it, we’re almost all still young in the coaching staff, so we can work through the night if necessary,” Nagelsmann stated, as captured via @iMiaSanMia.
It is certainly frustrating scenario for a group winner like Germany to be in. However, luckily for Nagelsmann and his coaching staff, they won’t have to wait until Saturday night to find out their opponent as Germany have now had their Round of 32 opponent confirmed as Paraguay.
Germany will have almost 72 hours of preparation, which should be plenty of time to gameplan against a relatively favorable opponent. While Germany did struggle against Ecuador on their final matchday of the group stage, Germany will be large favorites in Boston on Monday.
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