As Germany stumbled through a 2-1 defeat to Ecuador in the final game of the group stage, it became clear that a meaningless game in the standings might have actually meant a lot in terms of this squad moves moves forward.
No less than three players — Deniz Undav, Joshua Kimmich, and Jamal Musiala — went on the record to say that Ecuador wanted the game more, while head coach Julian Nagelsmann, denied that was the case.
While there was a lot that went into the game, it was clear that there was at least
some disconnect between the players and coach with how they assessed the game.
Before the match, there was a heavy debate on how Nagelsmann should approach the game — rest his starters and rotate in some players who could use the field time…or try to build chemistry with his starting XI, which was, indeed, lacking cohesion? In the end, Nagelsmann settled on half measures by using most of his starters and ultimately subbing in Deniz Undav and Malick Thiaw in the 60th minute.
So much for a chance to build greater chemistry — of course, that was hard to do when the starting XI was getting majorly outplayed. After 60 minutes of disjointed offensive play, chaos in the midfield, and continued scrambling on the backline, nothing changed. In fact, it might have gotten worse.
In fact, all the poor effort did was raise more questions (some of which, have already been asked multiple times):
- What would this team look like with Undav getting a full game to wreak havoc?
- What if there was a legitimate right-back on the roster that could allow Kimmich to solidify a shaky midfield?
- What if there was another true winger on the squad, so that Nagelsmann could not use the excuse that than no other player has the same profile as Leroy Sané?
- What if there was just one German coach not enamored by the idea of what Kai Havertz could be instead of what he is?
Many observers will point to the lack of meaning (in terms of table position) for the game, but Germany did not appear overly motivated or properly prepared. Still, those things could be overlooked in a one-off, but the problems seem to more than just with a bad game against Ecuador.
The team that Nagelsmann put together is flawed. The decisions that Nagelsmann has made on his starters are extremely questionable. The strategy moving forward had better be good, as a potential matchup with France is looming in the Round of 16.
The worst traits we remember from Nagelsmann’s time are rearing their ugly heads at the wrong time. Is he still the man with the plan to lead Germany back to the Promised Land of a World Cup title…or is he just band-aid until someone better (Jürgen Klopp?) comes along?
Song of the Week: “Get Free” by The Vines
We are venturing back into the waters of garage rock for this week’s selection. Released in 2002, this was one of those songs of the era that seems to have disappeared into the void despite its massive popularity at the time.
You know, the garage rock era was fun — I’ll stand by that. Enjoy:
Entertainment Rundown
House of the Dragon — Season 3, Episode 1
This was…interesting, so let’s get into it. As someone, who has been a heavy critic of this show (and deservedly so), I loved most of this episode. First, here are some things I did not love:
- Let’s start with the elephant in the room — Aemond having the hots for his mom was too much. It disturbed me so much that I had to quickly research whether this was “book accurate”…and it was not. In the books, Aemond likes older women (fair enough), but not his mom. It’s his freakin’ mom!
- For a show that has somehow almost normalized incest within the storyline, this was a bridge too far and mostly because there was no reason for it…like none at all. It was as if the writers stumbled upon the 1994 indie flick, Spanking the Monkey and needed to incorporate some of that theme. The brother-sister and cousin marriages and relationships are icky enough, but at least its the source material. To throw more pervy weirdness was just unnecessary.
- One other thing that I did not love was Rhaena bonding very quickly with Sheepstealer and then immediately putting him battle. That was rushed and chaotic. It might also be “book accurate” for what it was worth (at least from what I could see in my research — again, I did not read the books)
- If the death of Jacaerys was meant to show how stupid his character was then it succeeded.
Okay, so I listed a few things that I had some trouble with, but those were minor gripes in what was a great episode:
- I am very interested to see what happened now with Larys and Aegon after their voluntary capture. This seems like it could be an underrated part of the overall plot.
- Like so many characters in this universe, Jacaerys wanted to protect his loved ones (in this case his mother, Rhaenyra) and prematurely rushed into a battle that he was not ready for. Worse, he brought his cousin (half-sister?) wife (I literally cannot keep track) into the mess as well.
- Seeing Daemon back in action on the battlefield was awesome. Seeing him team up with the Northerners was also cool. The Stark bannermen / Northmen should add some spice to this war.
- Ser Criston Cole seems resigned to his fate. In a battle that will be largely fought (and won or lost) with dragons, Cole knows his end is near. Meanwhile, Alicent’s younger brother, Gwayne Hightower, is trying to keep the standard high for the soldiers, who Cole seems ready to think are just waiting to die.
- The most intriguing character is Ormond Hightower, who looks like a formidable warrior and also might also be some kind of drug guy. He seems to be a character to watch this season.
- After initially balking at traveling to Harrenhal to claim the castle for his side, Aemond relented and awkwardly kissed his very disturbed mom, Alicent. Alicent, of course, is trying to find a way to end this conflict by getting rid of her problem children.
- The entire battle sequence of Sharako Lohar vs. The Sea Snake was awesome. Everything from Sharako Lohar sending ships to maraud Sea Snake’s castle to Sea Snake luring Sharako Lohar into the narrow passage with her boat, The B!tchfist, was incredible and among the best battle scenes in the GoT universe (it’s not Watchers on the Wall, Hardhome, or Battle of the Bastard, but it is good). Adding dragons intermittently into the mix added some intrigue, especially because Sheepstealer was just ready to wreck everyone — friend or foe.
- Ultimately, the inclusion of Sheepstealer and his wild ways would cost Jace and Vermax their lives. Vermax was already injured and should have no longer been in that fight, but Jace’s inexperience in battle led to the most costly of all the costly decisions in this episode.
- Is Tyland Lannister dead? It seems unlikely, but this show can make some wild decisions.
- One thing that I think helps create mixed feelings from viewers is that there is no side to really root for. Both sides of this battle are majorly and inherently flawed. None of the characters are really a hero-type figure (despite the show really wanting people to back the Blacks more than the Greens).
- Overall, this was a great episode — probably the best of the series (I know, a low bar was set), but what I wanted to see is the writing and pacing match the urgency of the overarching storyline — which it did. It will be hard for the show to keep this kind of pace, but if it can, we could have a great watch ahead of us. I am a sucker for battles and action and I thought all of that was done exceptionally well in this episode. The writers and showrunners read the room on how people felt about the show and they finally made a good decision on how to make the show better. Oh and let me tell you this…the hardest part of these recaps.reviews is getting the names correct.
Rating: 9.00 / 10.00
Predictions
Prediction: Germany 5-0 Curaçao (W)
Other World Cup predictions include:
Thursday, June 11, 2026
- Mexico 2-1 South Africa (W)
- South Korea 2-1 Czechia (W)***
Friday, June 12, 2026
- Canada 2-1 Bosnia & Herzegovina (L)
- United States 3-2 Paraguay (W)
Saturday, June 13, 2026
- Qatar 0-3 Switzerland (L)
- Brazil 3-2 Morocco (L)
- Haiti 1-2 Scotland (W)
Sunday, June 14, 2026
- Australia 0-3 Türkiye (L)
- Netherlands 3-1 Japan (L)
- Ivory Coast 1-2 Ecuador (L)
- Sweden 1-0 Tunisia (W)
Monday, June 15, 2026
- Spain 5-0 Cape Verde (L)
- Belgium 3-1 Egypt (L)
- Saudi Arabia 0-2 Uruguay (L)
- Iran 1-0 New Zealand (L)
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
- France 3-0 Senegal (W)
- Iraq 0-4 Norway (W)
- Argentina 3-0 Algeria (W)***
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
- Austria 2-0 Jordan (W)
- Portugal 3-0 Congo DR (L)
- England 3-1 Croatia (W)
- Ghana 2-1 Panama (W)
- Uzbekistan 1-3 Colombia (W)
Thursday, June 18, 2026
- Czechia 2-1 South Africa (L)
- Switzerland 2-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina (W)
- Canada 2-0 Qatar (W)
- Mexico 2-1 South Korea (W)
Through Thursday’s (6/18) games — we stand at 16-12 (not great) with 2 perfect picks. Totals will not be compiled until the end of the group stage.
Friday, June 19, 2026
- United States 2-1 Australia (W)
- Scotland 1-2 Morocco (W)
- Brazil 3-0 Haiti (W)***
- Türkiye 2-1 Paraguay (L)
Saturday, June 20, 2026
- Netherlands 2-0 Sweden (W)
- Germany 2-1 Ivory Coast (W)***
- Ecuador 3-0 Curaçao (L)
Sunday, June 21, 2026
- Tunisia 1-2 Japan (W)
- Spain 3-0 Saudi Arabia (W)
- Belgium 2-0 Iran (L)
- Uruguay 2-0 Cape Verde (L)
- New Zealand 0-1 Egypt (W)
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
- Portugal 3-0 Uzbekistan (W)
- England 3-1 Ghana (L)
- Panama 0-3 Croatia (W)
- Colombia 2-1 Congo DR (W)
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
- Bosnia & Herzegovina 2-0 Qatar (W)
- Switzerland 2-1 Canada (W)***
- Morocco 3-0 Haiti (W)
- Scotland 1-4 Brazil (W)
- Czechia 1-2 Mexico (W)
- South Africa 1-2 South Korea (L)
Thursday, June 25, 2026
- Curaçao 0-2 Ivory Coast (W)***
- Ecuador 1-2 Germany (L)
- Japan 2-1 Sweden (L)
- Tunisia 0-2 Netherlands (W)
- Paraguay 1-1 Australia (W)
- Türkiye 3-2 United States (W)***
Through Thursday’s (6/25) games — we stand at 37-19 with 7 perfect picks. Totals will not be compiled until the end of the group stage.
Friday, June 26, 2026
- Norway 2-3 France
- Senegal 2-1 Iraq
- Cape Verde 1-1 Saudi Arabia
- Uruguay 1-3 Spain
- Egypt 1-0 Iran
- New Zealand 1-2 Belgium
Saturday, June 27, 2026
- Croatia 1-0 Ghana
- Panama 0-4 England
- Colombia 2-4 Portugal
- Congo DR 1-0 Uzbekistan
- Algeria 0-2 Austria
- Jordan 0-4 Argentina
Prediction Records
- Total: 50-30
- Perfect Picks: 12
- Bundesliga Last Matchday: 0-0
- Bundesliga Overall: 0-0
- DFB-Pokal: 0-0
- World Cup: 0-0
- International Friendlies: 50-30
- Champions League: 0-0
- Club Friendlies: 0-0
- Franz Beckenbauer Supercup: 0-0
Records will not be totalled until the group stage is final.
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