Germany Scrapes Through Algeria to Earn Quarterfinal Berth

Mesut Ozil celebrates his goal for 2-0 against Algeria. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Three-time world champions Germany had to go through extra time in order to beat Algeria in the 1/8 final of the World Cup.

The African side was playing its first ever match at this stage of a World Cup, but had a positive record against Germany in their previous meetings, the last of which came in 1982.

Despite being pushed back into their own half at the beginning of the game, the Algerians gradually settled and even constructed some rapid counter attacks, which troubled the German defense. All in all, the man of the match (at least for the regular 90 minutes) was Algeria’s goalkeeper Rais M’Bolhi, who happens to be the only representative of the Bulgarian football league at the World Cup. M’Bolhi pulled out some marvelous saves to deny Germany the lead.

Right in the beginning of extra time though, Germany’s increasing pressure materialized, as Andre Schurrle scored from a Muller cross. The African team looked tired to offer any response, and Ozil sealed the win with a second goal in the 120^th minute. Algeria did manage to pull one back in the dying seconds, through substitute Djabou, but that was all they had time for.

Joachim Loew will need to extract a much better performance from his players in the quarterfinal against France, if Germany is to retain chances of winning the trophy. The French on their part, saw off another African team – Nigeria, with 2 late goals, from Pogba, and an own goal by Yobo.

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