Germany Stay Alive At World Cup 2022 Spain vs Germany 1-1 ● Analysis

In terms of the quality we expected, probably a little bit better overall, but the Germans will be relieved. Yeah, I think they will. In the end, I think we'd all sit here and probably say it was a fair result in the end. I think we came in Spain, probably a little bit after the first game, we considered them favourites, but I thought Germany grew into the game, but in the second half, they looked very good and looked like a team more likely to score goals. But Spain, for me, is still one of the standouts, going to be one of the favourites during this tournament. It's another example, Mauricio, of a team, great performance, next game, not quite so easy. I know it's a different opposition, but World Cups are tough. Yes, it's the World Cup and it's not easy to keep some level, like the Spain show against Costa Rica. Germany is a great team, good player, tough opposition. And today I am a little bit worried about Spain, because before, after the result, Costa Rica's expectation was massive, but now, some weakness, some... What are those weaknesses? Possibly in defence? I mean, Rodri is a great player, he's seen him as a holding player, but is he a central defender? They feel under pressure, faces the game, I think when Germany go high to press and to force them, try to find solutions in the build-up. And then it's some problem, some mistake, and then in the second half, it's true, Schalmann finished the game with a better feeling than Spain. We talked about the importance of substitutions before the game, Antti Flick brought on full crew and he turned it around. You could say full crew had a champagne moment, if you want, but... Yeah, I mean, he gave it a go and surprisingly he didn't bring in Havertz, obviously he was waiting for his moment, made his changes, his changes had an impact. Also Sané, with the few touches he had, but they were decisive touches. Tell us about him, a little bit about him, because obviously he's not a player that's been at the top for a few years, he was in your version of the championship not long ago, wasn't he? Yeah, he was with Werder Bremen and was promoted then, did well in the second division, our championship, and made it into the roster, probably made it only into the roster because you get 26 players to go to the World Cup in this tournament. But he is a number nine at least, what he's doing is scoring goals and he did that today and this is a brilliant moment for the team. It just shows you, everyone else would have probably been sitting here saying, Havertz, where's Havertz? We were even saying it, this guy knows his squad, he knows what he needed, two number nines came on the pitch today, Mauricio.