Germany’s come-from-behind, 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast in Toronto, Canada can really be boiled down to the second half substitutions that Julian Nagelsmann made when they were still trailing 1-0 to the Ivorians. To slightly change things up, the former Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, and Hoffenheim manager brought on Deniz Undav, Nadiem Amiri, and Jamie Lewling after he had already been forced to take off Nico Schlotterbeck due to injury at halftime and replace him with Antonio Rüdiger.
It was Undav
that made the ultimate difference for Die Mannschaft, too, as the VfB Stuttgart striker struck once in the 68th minute off of a brilliant cross from Amiri, and then again in the 94th minute, taking a tidy touch, turning and shooting quickly off of a clever pass from Felix Nmecha. The Amiri and Undav connection is what fired Germany back into the match and ultimately helped secure their place in the knockout stage as group winners since Ecuador drew 0-0 with Curaçao later that evening.
Speaking on the comeback win in Toronto, former Bayern club president Uli Hoeneß equated that fighting spirit to something that shows Germany can really go far in this tournament. As expected, Nagelsmann and the squad have their fair share of doubters despite a galvanizing Euros two summer’s ago on home soil, but Hoeneß feels the evidence on display has suggested the team is capable of potentially going the distance.
“It has to be said that Germany produced an incredible fighting performance yesterday. However, there are still some very tough obstacles on the road to the title. If they continue to grow together as a team in this way, and if the coach keeps making substitutions as effectively as he did yesterday, then anything is possible,” Hoeneß told Sport1 (via @iMiaSanMia) over the weekend, paying homage to the personnel decisions Nagelsmann made in the second have of the Ivory Coast win.
Of course, Germany’s been dealt a massive blow with the news that Schlotterbeck suffered a significant ligament injury during the Ivory Coast win and will now be out for several months, but there’s still enough depth and experience in the squad to keep the balance. It’s up to Nagelsmann to just continue to be able to get those mid-match tactical tweaks and personnel changes right when it matters the most. That can be the difference between Germany going far or potentially not even getting past the round of 32 or 16.
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