South Korea and Koo beat Germany

FCA star Ja-Cheol Koo and the South Korea national team inflicted a fatal 2-0 defeat on Germany in their final group game. Despite the victory, Koo and Co. are also heading home along with Joachim Löw’s men. South Korea held back at first, just like Mexico and Sweden had, to try and hit Germany on the counter. The Germans struggled to show their quality going forward against a strong Korean defence, and so the first big chance of the game fell to the ‘Taegeuk Warriors’ as well: Former Bundesliga star Heung-Min Son was denied by Neuer. Germany remained patient and had to wait until nearly half time for their first major chances, which neither Timo Werner nor Mats Hummels could convert. Thanks to a couple of fantastic stops by Hyun-Woo Cho, the teams went in at half time goalless. After half time, the news from the other game reached the players: Sweden had taken the lead against Mexico, which meant Germany had to increase the pressure. Joachim Löw made changes to bolster up the attack, but there was still no breakthrough for ‘Die Mannschaft’. In the 56th minute, an unwelcome sight for South Korea and for Augsburg, when Ja-Cheol Koo was taken off injured. With desperation creeping into Germany’s game, South Korea were able to creep up the other end more and more. In stoppage time, a defensive mistake allowed Young-Gwon Kim to put South Korea ahead. With just seconds left on the clock, Manuel Neuer had completely abandoned his goal and the Koreans pounced: Heung-Min Son ran onto a long ball forward and slid it into an open net to put Germany bottom of the group.