AL KHOR, Qatar — That is how fantastic the margins might be: Had Nico Schlotterbeck not raced again, his jaw tight with effort, to steal the ball from Álvaro Morata’s toes, Germany’s World Cup would dangle by a thread. For the second event in a row, a bunch stage exit would loom. Questions could be requested, culprits sought, knives sharpened.
However Schlotterbeck did race again, straining each sinew to shut the hole to Morata, and he did slide in, his timing good, and he did steal the ball from his toes, and now it isn’t past the realm of chance that Germany may discover itself — in a few weeks’ time — getting ready for a World Cup semifinal, the scent of unlikely glory in its nostrils.
The irony, after all, was that Schlotterbeck’s intervention was only one second amongst many hundreds over the course of greater than 100 minutes, a speck when it comes to Hansi Flick’s staff’s total efficiency, and but all the pieces turned on that single on the spot. Each evaluation of this recreation, each evaluation of the well being of German soccer, hinged on it; so, too, did the worldwide careers of a number of gamers and, probably, of 1 coach.
The reality of it’s that this had been a massively encouraging show from Germany, no matter whether or not Morata, scorer of Spain’s opener, had added a second in damage time. It might have been even when Flick’s staff had not sealed some extent due to a purpose from Niclas Füllkrug, the late-blooming striker added to the squad virtually as an afterthought within the weeks earlier than this event.
That isn’t to say it was spectacular — removed from it — but it surely was brim stuffed with all of these different traits which are thought of fairly helpful in these circumstances: grit and struggle and business and nous. Germany well-merited its level, one which means it goes into its last recreation figuring out {that a} victory in opposition to Costa Rica will, in all probability, carry it into the knockout rounds.
After that, the sector opens just a bit. It may be Morocco within the final 16 and Portugal within the quarterfinals. Germany got here inside a whisker of one more embarrassment within the World Cup. The margins, although, are fantastic. Rapidly, it might see nothing however promise.