Doha. I don’t even know what to call it.
disaster?
It might be on the low end.
These World Cup matches are layers upon layers upon layers. Before the meeting at Al Bayt Stadium (you know, the giant tent in the middle of the desert that cost me SEK 7.5 billion), an Israeli reporter came up to me and asked how I felt.
Since I have to look like a birdhouse, I quickly filled in:
– So, for a woman to judge the match?
the correct. Stephanie Frappart, by far the best female judge you can find, is going to make history.
Depressed
Germany added another layer to their opening match against Japan, their silent protest against the Fifa One Love ban. What some think is why they lost concentration, and so here they stood pressed into the grass with the leaden pressure on their shoulders.
All the while, Costa Ricans moved with greater freedom knowing that they had already exceeded expectations. They really had nothing to prove. They didn’t need to give this German giant enough of a recall round to come home with honor intact.
But that’s exactly what they did.
After 8.5 years
It has been 8.5 years since the national team took the world by storm tonight. Costa Rica settled with three former World Cup champions in the World Cup group stage, reaching the quarter-finals and then watching goalkeeper Keylor Navas contract with Real Madrid. Germany, in turn, humiliated the host country, Brazil, and pushed the ball to the Federal Republic of Germany through Mario Goetze’s left foot.
What has happened since then? Very little in the case of Costa Rica. The 35-year-old Navas is still in goal to this day while Oscar Duarte tries to keep the defense together. The midfield duo is still named Celso Borges and Yeltsin Tejeda.
Naturally, two German players are also in pursuit of the gold medal at the World Cup. Manuel Neuer is 36 years old but he keeps goalkeepers like Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Kevin Trapp on the bench. Thomas Müller was also in the starting line-up tonight, despite Niklas Volkrug’s goal against Spain.
All is well
Füllkrug gets in relatively early on after all. Not that Germany was particularly bad. A energetic Jamal Musiala ran the ball in in the first half and pointed it to David Raum who was headed in by Serge Gnabry to make it 1-0.
Until now it was All is well. A very confident man leaned from the stands to me and shouted, “It will be Germany 5-0!”
The point was that the Germans were in control on the one hand. On the other hand, Costa Rica surprisingly had their best half of the tournament so far. Football can be illogical and incomprehensible at times.
disaster
When the former 1-1 Tejeda pressed a rebound after a beautiful attack, it seemed like the entire arena decided to hold on to Costa Rica. One short side sang authentic Spanish hymns while the others merely chanted “COSTA RICA”.
The German supporters collapsed. Even more so when Juan Pablo Vargas scored an unimaginable 2-1 goal in a chaotic penalty box situation. Outside Khalifa Stadium, Japan also beat Spain.
disaster.
I barely heard
Perhaps that is why Kai Havertz’s equalizer was barely noticeable. Only a hum was heard as Chelsea’s eternal top scorer pulled out a lifeline and promptly rushed home to his own half.
Then he pushed again, this time with a more upbeat cheer.
The problem was that it didn’t matter that the Germans started rolling balls into the net. Japan are still ahead which means Hansi Flick’s men finished third in the group with a worse goal difference than Spain.
When the final whistle sounded, the players in white looked around, searching for answers to what had just happened. The announcement was that Germany stood for its second successive World Cup failure despite winning 4-2. Many of them fell softly to the ground.
Inexplicable margins
Tonight, these national teams have taken the world by storm in a very different way than anyone could have expected.
People will blame this act of protest. They will argue that the Germans shot themselves with both feet for defending their cause. Perhaps the truth is as simple as that football sometimes has small, inexplicable margins.
Japan! Japan who looked like they had thrown everything away against Costa Rica when Hajime Moriyasu short circuited and made the second team.
However, this goes deeper than hand to mouth.
Stephanie Frappart should apologize. The event in the house consisted of many layers, the existence of which disappeared somewhere beneath. though its linesmen at times conspicuously suffered with offside decisions.
But that’s exactly what you want with a referee – that it doesn’t take the focus away from the match.