Germans defeat brave Algerians in extra time
It took Germany two minutes of extra time before they were able to score their first goal against the unfancied Algerians during Tuesday's morning (July 1) round of 16 match between Germany and Algeria.
Algeria's goalkeeper Rais Mbolhi, who was later voted man of the match, was single-handedly keeping the Algerians in the game until German substitute Andre Schuerrle arrived on the scene to somehow flick a Thomas Mueller low cross into the goal in the 92nd minute.
Mesut Ozil then put the final nail into the Algerian coffin when he scored in the 120th minute.
Schuerrle's initial shot had been cleared off the line by the Algerian defence but the ball bounced kindly to the feet of Ozil who made no mistake with his thunderous shot which hit the roof of the net.
The footballing gods decided to add a bit of drama into what was already an entertaining match when midfielder Abdelmoumene Djabou grabbed what turned out to be a consolation goal for the brave Algerians in the 121th min.
Scoring only two goals from a total of 22 shots on target not only told a story of Germany's wastefulness in front of the goal but also of Mbolhi's resoluteness in the Algerian goal.
Germany, playing in all-white, took a long time getting into their stride at the Beira Rio stadium and seemed to lack inspiration in the early exchanges, with most of the thrills coming from swift Algerian counter-attacks.
In the second half the Germans began their ascendancy as they slowly imposed their control over the match.
However, the stubborn resistance of the Algerians meant that the Germans had to wait until extra time before they could seal the deal.
Germany will face France in the quarter-finals on July 5.
Source: Reuters, YouTube
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