FIFA World Cup 2018: Germany beats Sweden 2-1
Defending champions Germany did it. Needing a win to stay in the run for a place in knockout round, Germany staged a magnificent come back from brink of disaster. The players who did it for the defending World Champions were Reus and Tony Kroos.
And the match winner came in the fifth minute of extra time given to make up for losses during run of play in the stipulated period. It was a free kick from which after a touch down, Toni Kroos fired a curving shot that beat the Swedish defence, including goalkeeper Olsen to great applause of German fans.
Needless to say both Marcos Reus and Toni Kroos become instant heroes, not only in Russia but also back home in Germany for their heroic efforts.
After suffering a shock 0-1 defeat at hands of Mexico in their first game, Germans looked all lost till the 48th minute. They were trailing to a 32nd minute goal by Sweden's Toivenon.
The Germans also had the misfortune of losing a player - Jerome Boateng - to a Red Card in the 77th minute. When the win came, there were only 10 German players on the field. Jerome Boateng, who had a poor game, will also miss the last group game.This was the second red card of the tournament so far.
A brilliant effort by Marcos Reus not only revived fans of German team but also electrified the team that looked disjointed. In the four encounters between the two countries, Germany had lost only once to Sweden and that was in 1958. Since then Germany had won all three matches.
Goal by Toni Kroos capped the good work by Marcos Reus and gave Germans their first win of the tournament. Incidentally goals by Marcos Reus and Toni Kroos were also the Germans first goals in the tournament.
