Chapter 795 Glimpses
Chapter 795: Chapter 795 Glimpses
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[Denmark 1 - 0 Germany]
"Welcome back to Vienna," Kramer announced as the players emerged from the tunnel. "Germany trails Denmark 1-0 at the break, and Joachim Löw has made a change: Timo Werner on for Florian Neuhaus. Germany is shifting to a more attack-minded approach."
The whistle blew, and Germany immediately pressed forward with renewed urgency, looking to up the tempo. Müller, now in midfield, linked up play with Kimmich in the middle, quickly bringing up the ball. The German world champion turned outward after a quick passing sequence, picking out Sané on the left flank.
Werner reacted to this pealing of the far shoulder of his marker, delaying his run to the far side of the box. Sané cut inside, gliding, jabbing the ball wide to escape another defender. Racing towards the loose ball, he glanced into the box and sent a first-time cross, unleashing a curling effort that slipped beyond Kjaer’s lunge.
Schmeichel watched it sail in and considered charging out, but it curled away from the goal, forcing him to backpedal promptly. Vestergard, who read the cross late, stopped in his tracks, shuffling backwards as he leapt into the air. He managed to clip the ball with the back of his head, slightly altering its angle.
The touch was small, but it was enough to put off Werner, whose leg was already swinging to meet the ball on the volley. His ankle clipped the underside of the ball with force, sending Schmeichel diving onto a knee. The expected ball never came his way, though; instead, it flew high into the sky, sailing well beyond his bar.
"Timo Werner!" Freund yelled, half in excitement, then in disappointment. "That’s one he will want to forget quickly."
Denmark seemed to have defended enough and began commanding more of the ball’s attention as they pushed the field. Hjbjerg continued his masterclass in the midfield defensive midfield, intercepting passes, winning second balls, frustrating every German attack before it could develop. It became much easier when Jens Stryger Larsen came on for Delaney, who seemed to be struggling after a knock.
They got their chance in the 58th minute, when Kimmich slid in late in hopes of dispossessing Braithwaite, who had charged up the left. Eriksen stepped up to take it, placing the ball with a serenity that belied the noise inside the stadium. He took three measured steps back, eyes briefly on ter Stegen, then on the cluster of red and white shirts jostling with their German markers at the edge of the six-yard box.
He whipped the free kick in with venom, an inswinger that dipped toward the near post. Kjaer broke free of his marker for a heartbeat and lunged forward, neck snapping at the ball. He glanced at it, redirecting it toward the far corner at a tricky angle.
Ter Stegen shuffled across his line, instincts kicking in as the trajectory changed late. He twisted mid-air with the agility of a cat, right arm extended, fingertips straining. The ball kissed his outstretched glove and rattled against the crossbar with a dull thud before bouncing down into a crowd of bodies.
Braithwaite reacted first, swinging a boot through the chaos. The shot crashed into Ginter’s thigh and ricocheted out toward the edge of the area. For a split second, time seemed to freeze as Hjbjerg charged onto it, body angled over the ball. He struck through it cleanly, boot crashing through the leather, low and true.
The effort skidded through the forest of legs, bouncing up upon hitting a foot, catapulting goalward.
Ter Stegen, wrong-footed from his earlier dive, scrambled up and exploded back the other way. With a desperate shove off the turf, he managed to get a strong right hand down, parrying the ball away from the bottom corner.
"Marc-André Ter Stegen!" Freund shouted over the roar. "He is not to be beaten!"
Around the 65th, Löw had seen enough and began making changes of his own. Kross came on for Gosens from a midfield three with Müller and Kimmich, with the German 13 playing as the attacking midfielder, as the two assumed a double pivot. Hummels also came off for Robin Koch, who took up the left back position as the German formation visibly shifted.
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4-2-3-1
GK: ter Stegen
DEF: Klostermann, Süle, Rüdiger, Robin Koch
MID: Kimmich, Kross
AMID: Sané, Müller, Gnabry
ATT: Timo Werner
---
The changes proved effective, as the German side looked notably more active on the attacking front. Kross especially put on a clinic, linking up with Müller and Kimmich as he surgically dismantled the Danish defence. Despite the tempo being just as slow as before, they were suddenly more dangerous in their probes.
Right around the 70th, Kimmich dropped into his team’s third to collect the ball, turning skillfully past Eriksen’s press. He snapped a vertical pass, threading the ball past the first Danish line, finding Müller on the half turn. He let it roll across his body, drawing Hjbjerg in, before flicking it around the corner for Gnabry.
The Allianz forward exploded into space, eating up yards as Larsen backpedalled, hands twitching behind his back. Gnabry dipped his shoulder once, twice, then chopped inside onto his right. A red shirt slid across to close him, but he shifted the ball again, carving out half a yard and unleashing a low drive toward the near post.
The Allianz forward exploded into space, eating up yards as Larsen backpedalled, hands twitching behind his back. He dipped his shoulder once, twice, then chopped inside onto his right. A red shirt slid across to close him, but he shifted the ball again, carving out half a yard and unleashing a low drive toward the near post.
Schmeichel, between the sticks, saw it late, spearing out as the ball skipped viciously off the turf and skidded under his palm, threatening to squirm through. For a heartbeat, the entire stadium held its breath—then the leather spun wide, kissing the side post, then the advertising board instead of the net. The Danes exhaled as one and regrouped for the goal kick.
"Serge Gnabry, inches away!" Kramer cried. "Germany knocking now."
In the 72nd minute, the pressure nearly imploded when Kroos received a layoff from Müller. Without even looking, he lofted a teasing diagonal ball over Larsen’s head. Sané drifted in behind, his first touch cushioning the ball out of the sky and into his path. He darted into the box, chopping inside onto his right as Kjaer slid across to meet him.
Seeing the gap, he wrapped his boot around the ball, blasting a curling effort toward the far corner. With almost superhuman instincts, Schmeichel launched himself full-stretch, fingertips clawing through the air. The ball arced over him, turning as it dropped, clipping the outside of the post with a dull metallic ring.
Feeling the pressure, the Danish side began attacking harder in hopes of easing the pressure. It proved a profitable venture, especially when Kasper Hjulmand replaced the front three in the 75th. Nicolai Boilesen, Mikkel Damsgaard, and Kasper Dolberg relentlessly charged at the Germans, not letting them slowly build up play.
Boilesen snapped into a tackle on Klostermann, sending the ball loose for Damsgaard to pounce on. The forward drove inside, gliding past Kross with a shoulder bump, charging at the back line.
A quick shimmy pulled half Süle and Rüdiger in, and that’s all he needed to thread a through ball to Dolberg. The forward burst into the box, shoulders pumping as he struck early for the edge of the box before Koch could close him down. The ball flew low toward the far side, forcing Ter Stegen into action, parrying it out, and Rüdiger hacked clear under pressure.
"Denmark so close to killing it off," Kramer muttered. "But as long as it’s 1-0, this can still turn."
In the 83rd minute, their persistence finally found a crack in Denmark’s shape. Kroos fizzed a line-breaking pass into Müller, who had slipped away from Hjbjerg. A soft touch, then a clever backheel released Sané down the left. He looked up once and whipped a vicious low cross across the six-yard box.
Werner darted across the front post, just ahead of Kjaer, and flicked it toward the far side of the goal with his instep. Schmeichel’s feet were rooted, barely managing to throw his upper body after the ball, but it was too late. The ball flashed inside the far post, sending the net rattling.
"Equaliser!" Freund roared. "Timo Werner redeems himself—Germany are level at last!"
Denmark tried to answer in the final minutes, pumping balls toward Dolberg and Damsgaard, but the match had tilted. Rüdiger crashed through headers, and Kimmich turned into prime Kante, flying into tackles, scooping up every second ball. Both sides had a few good moments in the dying minutes, but in the end, the score remained even as the whistle finally resounded.
[Denmark 1-1 Germany - Timo Werner 84’]
"It ends all square in Vienna," Kramer concluded. Denmark is close to a win, and if this is an indication of their form, their tournament prospects look high. Germany managed to show us glimpses of their brilliance in the end, finding a way back."
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TO BE CONTINUED...