Germany 2-2 Hungary
Germany were on the brink of a shock exit here in Euro 2020, but an old reliable showed up just in the nick of time.
Leon Goretzka scored the last-gasp equaliser late and they denied a relentless Hungary squad one of the final spots in the upcoming knockout stages.
The Group F has lived up to its billing as the “Group of Death” since the Final 16 berths went down to the wire up until the final group stage matchday.
Earlier, France and Portugal got into the Final 16 bus since they shared points in their thrilling 2-2 draw as two former Real Madrid teammates in Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo came out and gave us numerous Euro 2020 highlights.
By stealing points from Hungary, Germany will finish second in Group F and they’ll take on England in much-awaited affair. Portugal and France, on the other hand, are set to lock horns against Belgium and Switzerland respectively.
As for the Hungarians, they shouldn’t feel too bad for themselves despite ending their campaign on a whimper since they have defied expectations.
The Magyars, after all, surpassed their SBOTOP Euro 2020 odds by grabbing two points against two of the world’s strongest football teams.
Highlights of the game
Fresh from their 4-2 win against Portugal last Sunday, Germany came out dry against Hungary on a rainy night at the Allianz Arena.
The Magyars had a great look at goal early when Attila Szalai tried to tee up Roland Sallai into the box, but Manuel Neuer quickly blocked the ball away.
Die Mannschaft had a similar look moments later when Joshua Kimmich found himself open inside the penalty area after a lovely through ball, but Pete Gulacsi’s hand got into the way of his low shot.
After the 10-minute mark, Hungary entered into the scoresheet when they were lightning-quick on the counter as team captain Adam Szalai nodded home Roland Sallai’s beautiful ball from the right flank.
The Germans tried to respond and Matthias Ginter almost equalised when he fired his shot minutes later after a mad scramble. However, the ball went right into Peter Gulacsi’s hands.
Germany mostly laboured in their play as they were desperate for a goal and they would finally break through six minutes after the hour mark when Kai Havertz put the ball into the net after an uncharacteristic error from Peter Gulacsi.
But 90 seconds later after the restart, Hungary reclaimed the precious lead when Adam Szalai set up Andras Schafer, who shot the ball past Manuel Neuer’s reach to put Germany in a perilous position.
The Germans looked deflated in that moment, but they dug deep to fight back in the next 20 minutes.
Joachim Low’s move to bring in Jamal Musiala from the bench paid off as the Bayern Munich wunderkind pulled the ball back for Leon Goretzka to dish Timo Werner for a possible score.
However, Werner’s shot was parried away and Goretzka was at the right place and time to beat Gulacsi at goal to seal their spot at the knockout stages.
Key statistics
Die Mannschaft have only lost three of their last 21 international matches (W11, D7, L3), and they have been defeated in only one of their last 10 Euro group stage fixtures (W7, D2, L1).
Prior to this match, Germany had won in their last two matches against Hungary without conceding a single goal, which is why we were shocked when the Magyars pushed them to the limit.
Moreover, the Germans have only kept three clean sheets in their last 17 games.
Hungary have only lost one of their last 14 international matches (W7, D6, L1), but they have drawn four of their last five Euro group stage matches.
Adam Szalai has achieved history for the Magyars since he became the first Hungary player to play in two Euros. The Mainz striker has scored before in Euro 2016.
At 22 years and 12 days, Kai Havertz became the fourth-youngest player to score in back-to-back major tournament appearances for Die Mannschaft after Thomas Muller in 2010 (20), Franz Beckenbauer in 1966 (20), and Lukas Podolski in 2006 (21).
Meanwhile, Jamal Musiala became the youngest player ever to make an appearance for Germany in a major tournament at 18 years and 117 days.
What’s next?
Germany will now travel to the Wembley Stadium next Tuesday since they’ll have England on the menu for their Final 16 matchup.
As for Hungary, they’ll have a few months to rest before facing England in the World Cup 2022 qualifiers on September 2.
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