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FIFA WORLD CUP 2018

FIFA WORLD CUP 2018 – South Korea vs Germany PREVIEW



Germany were seconds away from almost certain elimination, meanwhile South Korea are literally at a certain elimination point right now. Anything but a win and a Mexican win eliminates South Korea. A win for Germany and they are pretty much through unless in an unlikely scenario it’s a one goal win and Sweden win by one goal which could end up into Germany missing out due to disciplinary standing which they trail by one card.


SOUTH KOREA


It’s tough to really say that it’s been a disappointing tournament for South Korea because almost everyone expected them to get eliminated, however there is still a slight chance they advance. Korea need to beat Germany and hope Mexico defeat Sweden, however Korea will have to win by two goals. It’s a beyond unlikely scenario, especially given the momentum Germany have now and the lack of talent that Korea got. So far Korea lost 1-0 to Sweden and 2-1 to Mexico. They looked awful in the opener, but their performance improved against Mexico. Whereas they barely created anything against Sweden and their star man Son was shut out, against Mexico it was a completely different story. Korea created chances, Son was effective scored a goal, but Mexico proved to be too much in the end with their ruthless counter attacking play. Korea also trail the discipline standings massively with  6 bookings compared to Germany’s 4 and Sweden’s 3 which is why they need to win by two goals instead of one. A task for Korea is basically impossible, but there’s a reason they play games right? Even if they fail to advance, facing Germany alone will be enough motivation. Plus it’s a chance at getting revenge for 2002 by eliminating Germany.


GERMANY


Well, it’s been tougher than expect for Germany. Germany were seconds away from being put in a position where they would surely be at certain elimination. However Toni Kroos scored one of the goals of the tournament right at the death and Germany escaped beating Sweden 2-1. Germany have not looked great by any means so far. They lost 0-1 to Mexico getting ripped to pieces on counters and then saw themselves go behind against Sweden, but pulled off a comeback showing that winners mentality and won 2-1. Germany’s backline has been very fragile in the tournament and even before it which is a huge worry, they had to switch it around from game 1 to game 2 and still looked average. Boateng has been awful, got himself sent off and will be suspended, Hummels isn’t fully fit, meanwhile their RB and LBs Kimmich and Hector love to bomb forward and keep leaving spaces at the back. We may see German backup CB’s Rudiger and Sule play together in this final game. In midfield we’ve also seen many chances in the German team the main one being Ozil being benched and not even seeing action in the Sweden game. Going forward, Germans have been wasteful, both strikers Werner and Gomez missed some sitters, just look at the stats, 41 shots and just 2 goals by Germany one being a lucky deflection and the other being a free kick. But regardless of all that, they are still alive and will face the worst team in the group for a place in the next round. Surely Germany will see it out. This has been the toughest they’ve had in the group stages at a major tournament since Euro 2004.


Keys/Tactics


We all know talent wise Germany are just way superior to Korea. From goalkeeper to forward, Germany are top class meanwhile Korea are a one man team. One thing Korea could exploit in this game is Son Heung Min’s play on the wings. Because German full backs love to bomb forward so it will leave spaces at the back and with Son’s pace and ability that’s one thing Korea can expose. However Son can’t be the only one who creates, other players for South Korea have to perform since you can’t expect one man to defeat the mighty Germany. Players like Hwang, Ki are another couple of bodies who are somewhat decent and must be on their game. Now looking at Germany. We can expect them go throw everyone forward, their plan will be just get as many goals and settle everything in this game quickly. They have Kroos, Draxler, Reus, Muller and many others they can bring off the bench to create and given the fact that Korea simply don’t have the talent at the back you’d expect Germany to be too good. Can’t expect Ozil to start in this game because with him being dropped, Germany looked better and in general Ozil has been in terrible form the past few months plus if you look at the Sweden game he didn’t even get thrown on when Germany needed that goal. Boateng is suspended, while Hummels is hurt so we may see a Rudiger-Sule CB pairing and for two back up CB’s that’s solid pairing and should do the job in the game. To summarise, we will see Germany be on the front foot, dominating and trying to use their world class midfield play to break down South Korea. Korea will try to hit Germans on the counters, their best bet will be exposing the German full backs being too far forward with Son and Hwang on the wings. The key for Germany to win is they must keep their composure and stop being leaky at the back while for South Korea they need to hope Germans are not on their game and they themselves overperform, Son Heung Min must play a game of his life.


Prediction


It’d be weird to expect anything less than a German win. The momentum is on their side, they have way too much talent and are proven winners while Korea are one of the worst sides in the tournament. Germany right now are on a high, they will dominate the game and should put a few goals past South Korea. Can expect Korea to get one goal however, it’s hard to trust Germany at the back the way they are looking. But in the end we believe Germany will pick up a comfortable win, the talent gap is too big. Expect a 4-1 German win and Werner will finally get his goal.




Group Standings


1 Mexico 6 pts +2 GD


2 Sweden 3 pts 0 GD


3 Germany 3 pts 0 GD


4 South Korea 0 pts -2 GD




ODDS – Decimal (WilliamHill)


South Korea Win – 13.00


Draw – 6.50


Germany Win – 1.20



KICK OFF – 27th June 2018 – 3pm UK Time

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