A ‘frame’ ends Denmark

AGermany did not reach the excellence that it exhibited in the debut against Scotland (5-1), but won and convinced against Denmark (2-0). “Berlin, Berlin, we’re going to Berlin,” the crowd chanted as they waved. The ‘Mannschaft’ is already waiting for Spain in the quarterfinals. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this is the case…

Another extra life for Kroos

For Kroos, every game could be his last. However, Toni saved the first matchball. Not without suffering, it must be said. First Neuer – he stopped Højlund’s one-on-one – and then the VAR – Andersen’s goal was disallowed for a millimeter offside – they saved Germany, which, it must be said, was far superior to its rival. Nagelsmann’s changes in the eleven suited him well: Raum forced the penalty to make it 1-0 and Schlotterbeck took a great long pass for Musiala’s 2-0. The German ‘roller’, with more or less brilliance, remains firm. Spain already knows what awaits them in the quarterfinals if they defeat Georgia.

‘Apocalipsis now’

A strong electrical storm had been announced with winds of up to 140 km/h, rain, hail, “deadly risk” and the truth is that it did give a little ‘scary’. It was the universal flood, but it seemed like the Apocalypse. Michael Oliver did well in put the health of the players first and temporarily suspend the game. During the break there were comical scenes, such as that of the Danish fans taking a ‘dip’ under the ‘leaks’ of the Signal Iduna Park. Luckily, after the storm comes calm and, half an hour later, the game started again.

Peter’s ghost

Just as the match began, the Germans They began to see the ‘spirit of Schmeichel‘ reincarnated in his son (Kasper). Peter was the hero of Denmark that defeated the ‘Mannschaft’ (2-0) in the 1992 Euro final. Kasper seemed to have his ‘cape’. In the first 11 minutes he ‘flew’ up to three times to deny Kimmich, Schlotterbeck and Havertz the goal. In the 36th minute, as soon as the match resumed, he hit Havertz with another point-blank header. He has not reached the height of his father, but, at 37 years old, he continues to work ‘miracles’. Finally, Havertz, with a penalty, and Musiala, hand in hand, were able to defeat him.

A question of millimeters

The VAR was one of the great protagonists of the Germany-Denmark. As soon as it started, in the 4th minute, Schlotterbeck saw his goal disallowed due to a foul by Kimmich in the block on Skov Olsen. The video reappeared in the 48th minute to invalidate a goal by Andersen due to Delanay’s previous offside. The repetition showed that it was a matter of millimeters, due to the toe of the boot. They played fine. To make matters worse, in the subsequent play, the VAR did see a penalty – it was – in the hands of Andersen himself in a Raum center.. Havertz did not forgive from 11 meters. History repeats itself: Denmark fell in 2021 with a dubious penalty in favor of the host and now with one of those offsides that depends on a ‘frame’.

Neuer is like new

Manuel Neuer lives up to his surname: he is like new. He had just become the goalkeeper with the most appearances in the history of the Euro and now – he has 19 – he has unseated Schweinsteiger (18) as the German with the most appearances in the tournament. But it’s not just about records. At 38 years old he is still decisive. In the 45th minute, on the brink of half-time, he played one-on-one with Højlund that would have meant 0-1 and could have been dramatic for Germany. Later, in the 66th minute, he took another ‘whirriagazo’ from Højlund himself. It looks like Ter Stegen is going to have to continue waiting.