FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Germany are out of the World Cup in a way they’ve never been eliminated before: on penalties.
Jonathan Tah skied Germany’s sixth spot kick well over the crossbar after seeing his apparent extra-time winner controversially disallowed, and Paraguay knocked the Germans out with a 4-3 penalty triumph following a 1-1 draw in the round of 32 Monday.
It was the first time in five attempts that the Germans were beaten in the tiebreaking format at the World Cup, and it ensured that the four-time champions would miss the round of 16 for a third consecutive tournament since capturing the 2014 title.
“During the tournament, you really have to give it your all,” Kai Havertz, who scored the lone German goal but saw his penalty saved, said via an interpreter. “I don’t think that we played bad football. I think we played good football. But something was always missing. And I think that was the case today as well. And now, especially as the players, we need to look at ourselves and what we can do better. Because we’re all professional football players.”
Tah missed after Orlando Gill saved Havertz and Nick Woltemade to put Paraguay in control, only for the Albirroja to flub their first two chances to seal the tiebreaker.
Manuel Neuer saved the second of those against Fabian Balbuena to force an improbable sixth round of kicks.
But Tah’s effort never came close to finding the net, and after Jose Canale converted, Paraguay were through to the last 16 in their first World Cup since 2010.
Gill also made six saves over 120 minutes for Paraguay, who are looking to repeat their quarterfinal appearance from 2010.
“I’m very, very excited. I’m very happy,” Gill said through an interpreter. “This was a challenging game, (with) very complicated, attacks from all sides (that) we resisted.”
In addition to a challenge, it will immediately rank among the most famous triumphs in the history of a nation whose biggest successes came multiple generations ago on the continental stage, with Copa America victories in 1953 and 1979.
“I think it’s a privilege,” Gill said. “And of course, this is for all the people from Paraguay. And this is something really special.”
Germany thought they’d won it in extra time on Tah’s 102nd-minute header of Nathaniel Brown’s corner kick.
But referee Jalal Jayed was summoned to the replay monitor by lead VAR Tatiana Guzman. After rewatching the play, he wiped off the goal, ruling Waldemar Anton had fouled Gill to free up space for Tah’s header at the back post.
Julio Enciso put Paraguay in front in the 42nd minute on one of the South Americans’ only forays forward before halftime with a neat header of Matias Galarza’s cross from near the penalty spot.
Havertz leveled for Germany nine minutes after the break on an even better headed finish, flicking on Florian Wirtz’s inswinging service into the bottom right corner.
Tah’s disallowed goal was one of a flood of later chances where the Germans just couldn’t find the breakthrough.
In the 78th minute, Havertz again connected from even closer range, but this time Gill lunged left in time to deny the effort.
In the 86th, Leon Goretzka met Wirtz’s corner but saw his defender kept out of the goal by his own teammate Anton, who was standing near the line in an offside position.
And then in the second extra time, Anton reached another German corner himself in the 118th minute, his header directed straight into Gill’s waiting arms on the goal line.
“The Paraguayan team defended very deep and it was difficult to really have paths and run for a long time,” Havertz said through an interpreter. “We tried to (attack via) the flanks, but unfortunately it didn’t really work out. And I don’t think we deserved to win this time.”
–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media
