World Cup qualifiers match report: Sweden 3 - 5 Germany
A well deserved hat-trick by Andre Schurrle and a flurry of assists along with a lovely goal by the birthday boy, Mesut Ozil defined the comeback by the Germans to beat Sweden 3-5 after the Swedes scored twice in the first half to go two goals up.
The last fixture between these two teams ended in 4-4 draw with Sweden being the only team to grab points away from Germany in the tournament.
The Germans made two changes to their starting line-up from the previous game. Mats Hummels and Borussia Mönchengladbach’s striker Max Kruse replaced Per Mertesacker and Sami Khedira (who seems to be benched everywhere at the moment). Swedes also had two changes with their hit-man Zlatan Ibrahimovic not available and Johan Elmander replaced by Tobias Hysen and Ola Toivonen.
Sweden took an early lead when Hysen glided the ball under Manuel Neuer with a clinical finish to open the scoring in the sixth minute. A lovely dummy by Toivonen disrupted the German defence and left Hysen unmarked. This allowed him all the time in the world to run for the ball and finish it without any trouble.
Apart from the early goal, the Swedes rarely got the chance to touch the ball, even though the game was played in their half. The Germans were pressing very hard to find the equalizer and Philip Lahm was ever present on the right flank in the final third, feeding the attack.
Just minutes before half time Alexander Kacaniklic timed his run perfectly to receive the ball from Kallstrom to slot it behind Neuer to score his first international goal for his country and put them in a comfortable 2-0 lead.
However, the comfort didn’t last long. Ozil scored his eight goal in the qualifiers and put the visitors back in the game right before half time and not long after the second half started, he passed the ball with a gentle touch to Mario Götze who had no trouble slotting the ball in. The Germans were back on level pegging and thus started their come back.
The Swedes struggled to get back their rhythm after the equalizer. Soon after which, Nilsson gave away the ball to Andre Schurrle who sprinted into the box in no time and found the far right corner of the net to put the Germans in lead. There was no stopping Schurrle after this.
Schurrle kept making those vicious runs from the left side and was an ever present threat. Soon enough, Antonsson made a mistake and gave the ball away in a crucial area, right outside the box to Götze, who patiently gave the ball to Schurrle and he scored an identical goal and gave the Germans a two goal advantage.
Sweden was awarded a free kick right after the goal. Hysen took the kick and found Sebastian Larsson, who, from what slightly(very) looked like an off-side scored a sumptuous volley and made sure the match would not end without any drama, but Schurrle had other plans. Minutes after the goal, Schurrle curled a brilliant shot into the top right corner to dismiss any doubts about the outcome of the match and completed a fine hat-trick.
The result meant nothing for both the teams. The Germans have already confirmed their spot in Brazil after winning the last game and the Swedes have booked a place in the play-offs. But, who cares! Both teams wanted to win and it was definitely a great game to watch.
Man of the match – Andre Schurrle.