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Germany defeats France to advance to 4th straight World Cup semifinal

Germany1-France2014 (Getty)

By TIM FONTENAULT

An outbreak of the flu was not enough to stop Germany from making World Cup history.

Mats Hummels’ header in the 13th minute was all the scoring the Germans needed to defeat France in the quarterfinals and advance to their fourth straight semifinal, a new World Cup record.

France’s World Cup run ends sooner than they hoped, but it is a run that comes with optimism. After a miserable campaign in 2010, France, now younger and revitalized, is set up for long-term success.

The French were in the match throughout, but one mistake from Raphael Varane proved to be the difference. Toni Kroos played a free kick into the box, where Varane gave Hummels too much space. Despite facing away from goal, Hummels was able to flick the ball into the back of the net.

With only the one goal in the game, Germany relied on Manuel Neuer to keep France from equalizing. Late in the first half, Karim Benzema nearly put the tying goal in, but Neuer got to it at the last second, pushing the ball out of harm’s way.

Germany did not threaten often in the second half, but the times they did get close to the net, Hugo Lloris put a stop to their chances.

France had more chances in a match with 50-50 possession, but their golden opportunity came just before the final whistle, when Benzema sprung clear from the left side of the box. Neuer had to get a hand to the ball at the last second to prevent extra time.

Germany’s victory comes at the end of a week that saw several players affected by the flu, including Hummels. Manager Joachim Low downplayed the serious of the situation on Thursday, saying that he expected everyone to be fit by the kickoff. The only player missing for Germany was Shkodran Mustafi, who suffered a muscle injury against Algeria.

Comments

  1. Wasn’t exactly an entertaining game. France played with little emotion and almost seemed disinterested in playing. Watching Brazil right now and Germany will need to find another gear if they want to win this thing

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  2. “What was the score,” he asked from a former journalist’s perspective. Obviously 1-0 but it shouldn’t demand a close read to extract.

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  3. Germany looked soft, they lucked out. If Klinsman was their coach they would have won 4-0.

    How was that SBI Klinsi lovers?

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    • All the haters have been saying similar things about Germany. Yet they suffer because the germans are in the SEMIS FOR A RECORD FOURTH STRAIGHT TIME. Stfu.

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      • My most sincere apologies as I jumped the gun, sorta. Of course, now I understand we both agree.

      • Germany is a huge developed country with player development across the entire nation. I honestly think they should be better, somewhat similar to Mexico (which is huge, but under developed and poorer). I don’t mean to say they aren’t good. They are consistently a top 5 country. But they never actually win in like forever. 20 years since a Euro title? 25 years since a World Cup champion? They aren’t Brazil and they aren’t Italy, but you sure would think it with the confidence they have. They are second to England when it comes to living off of past glory.

      • Comparing them to England? Since the one time England won something, Germany has won 2 world cups and lost in the final 3 other times. In that time, they’ve also won 3 euros and lost in the final 3 other finals. 11 finals and 5 trophies!

      • Lorenzo, Slow Lefty.
        Germany, has won three World Cups,
        1954, 1974, 1990 with Klinsy,
        They have been to a record 13 Semi Finals.
        I pick them to play Belgium in the final.
        that’s it.

        Vamos, Los Ticos, Los Ticos, Los Ticos!

      • aahhhhhhh, I would say better, rather than good. It will take a whole lot more than that to make the USA look GOOD.

  4. It’s insane how if you don’t know what to look for one could say that France looked a little toothless in this match. Props to Germany for playing team defense and shutting down countless threats before they developed into dangerous shots. It’s also ridiculous how easy they make it look year in and year out. On one level it makes for a “dull” game, but on another level it has all the technical brilliance of Barça in its tiki-taka heyday, just a different still is on display.

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