Germany is alive. Not only that, but his reward is one of the most interesting matches in history and promotion: the Euro 2020 knockout match against England at Wembley. how about that?
Fundamentally, however, Germany is still alive as Jogi Lo remains the only tonic in his medicine kit after being out-played, out-thought and out-fighted by Hungary. It was the equivalent of dragging your goalkeeper off the ice in hockey, or sending five receivers and dodging a Hail Mary in American football: keep substituting defensive players to attack players and pray that someone does something.
Essentially, cross your fingers and shoo the fool or king away. Or, in this case more accurately, a fallen sage, whose sophisticated plans turned to dust and who was ultimately saved by the bluntest of tactical equipment.
There were six minutes to go when Leon Goretzka's deflected shot went off the foot of Hungarian keeper Peter Gulacci and went into the goal. Six minutes until Germany made history: they had never fallen over the first hurdle in two successive major tournaments before. There were also six forwards on the pitch - twice the number Germany had started the game with.
After the goal – when Momentum made a 180-degree turn, as is often the case at this stage of tournament football, and Hungary now needed the score to avoid elimination – Germany finished with a back four that included a winger. Tha (Leroy Sane) and a striker (Timo Werner) at full-back.
Right or wrong, international football is a game of stereotypes: Brazil is creative, Italy is defensive, Colombia is flaky, Uruguay is tough as rusty nails. The label of Germany has always been one of steadfast persistence and credibility. Even when they transitioned to a more creative, high-energy style in the modern era, and even when they weren't particularly good, there was always a plan: rarely There was disappointment and hit-and-hope. Yet there was a lot in Munich on Wednesday night under the driving rain.
The work that went into the 4-2 win over Portugal was nowhere to be seen. The wingback duo of Robin Gosens and Joshua Kimmich, who were so disastrous against Cristiano Ronaldo's crew, were largely silenced by an organized back five, which ensured neither was given much space.
Much that didn't work was again painfully obvious. Matthias Ginter and Mats Hummels would find the blame for letting Adam Szalai sneak in between them and running their header into the wet pitch after 11 minutes and leaving Manuel Neuer behind, but they are not alone. Look at it again: Eight German players are behind the ball when Roland Salai hits his ball into the box. Hungary had just won the ball back in transition. There is no way it should have been.
Germany was stunned, making nothing but Hammels' strike from the woodwork. It was as if they were sleeping, numb to the side of the Hungarians who were on their way home early but deserved a ton of credit. They were written off by everyone (including you) in part because they were the 19th-ranked team in the tournament, in part because they were without their best player, the injured Dominik Soboszlai, in part because they were in a group with European champions, Portugal. , they are reigning World Cup champions, France and yes, Germany, who have rarely spoiled two tournaments.
Instead this team, which included only four people to trade their "Big Five" European leagues, held Portugal to a 0–0 draw six minutes ahead of time, holding France to a 1–1 draw. and were defeating Germany in Germany. . His coach, Marco Rossi, an Italian globetrotter as a player – he was the first Italian to play in the Bundesliga and played for Club America in Mexico, where he was managed by a Marcelo Bielsa – who had spent the last decade Hungary was doing wonders.
Lou needed a miracle of his own, because little was working. The rear three collapsed in every counterattack. Ilkay Gundogan had grown in the middle of the park. The front three of Kai Havertz, Serge Gnabry and Sane (who was selected ahead of Thomas Muller) looked like they had met through those pick-up soccer apps just before kickoff. Instead, he found a spot of good luck as Gulasi fell into the box off an effortless ball, Hummels' big head sent it goal-ward and Havertz was there to strike it.
normality restored? Yes, for as long as it takes you to swipe twice on Instagram. As Hungary launched the ball from kickoff, Szalai steamed from the deep and hooked a through ball to Andreas Schaefer, and he defeated Manuel Neuer 2–1 to beat him 2–1. Germany was going home (or rather, staying at home, given that they were in Munich). Again.
Lou must have realized that the man who unearthed his lottery scratch-off has won him $100,000, only to find it slipping out of his hands and into the manhole as he celebrates. At that time there was nothing left to do except bring it home. Leon Goretzka came in a few minutes earlier; He will be joined by Werner, Muller, Jamal Musiala and Kevin Woland. The more the better.
It worked. They won, and they live to fight another day, but this is a team that looks worse than a serve of less in any major tournament. And yes, that includes Russia 2018. Little worked and he had no answer until he chuckled at everything on the bench and hoped that some combination of personal genius, randomness, and luck would get the job done.
From here Germany has six days to fix it. Six days until the clash with England at Wembley, when another chapter in the rivalry would be written. In six days, Lou will consider the fact that, right now, his team is underdog and this could be his last days as coach of the national team.
Can he make it last? Can He Overturn Germany's Euro?
History is full of teams that beat it out in the group stage and went on to win. (Heck, this happened to Portugal in 2018.) But the meaning is that one of two things needs to happen. Either Lou has to come up with a game plan that works and that gets buy-backs from his players, or he takes a back seat and prays that his genius (but poorly-fitting) pieces will somehow work. Turn yourself into a consistent pattern, perhaps some level of control over the discard pitch for your veterans, whether it's Toni Kroos or Mueller or Neuer.
If his team does more than what we saw on Wednesday, the run - and Low's career as Germany boss - will come to an end against England at Wembley. It will not tarnish his legacy excessively. He will still be the strategic architect, reaching six consecutive major tournaments, three semi-finals and three finals (winning the 2014 World Cup on the way). But he will also be remembered as the man who stayed around for a long time.