Spain on Tuesday dealt Germany their worst defeat in 89 years with a stunning 6-0 victory in Seville to qualify for the UEFA Nations League finals, joining France, who came from behind to beat Sweden 4-2.
Germany have not been beaten so heavily since losing to Austria by the same scoreline in a friendly in 1931.
“That hurt,” German midfielder Toni Kroos said. “The Spanish team showed us at every turn how it’s done — with and without the ball.”
Photo: AFP
“There are no excuses. Now we know where we stand,” Serge Gnabry added.
Spain were as sublime as Germany were abysmal in Seville, where Ferran Torres scored a brilliant hat-trick to justify his reputation as one of soccer’s most exciting prospects.
Alvaro Morata and Rodri were also on target to make it 3-0 even before halftime, and while Sergio Ramos went off with a hamstring strain, Germany failed to stem the tide.
Photo: AFP
Instead, Torres grabbed two more and Mikel Oyarzabal added a sixth late on to put the finishing touches to Germany’s second-heaviest defeat ever — the only one worse being a 9-0 loss at the hands of the England Amateurs in 1909.
Coach Joachim Loew oversaw Germany winning the World Cup in 2014, but after 14 years in charge, even he is likely to face serious pressure after a humiliation like this.
“It was a night where we did nothing well, We lost every important battle,” Loew said.
Asked if his job was under threat, Loew said: “I trust the players. They are a young team. I am not worried about my job.”
Yet just as the result will spark a period of German introspection, Spain finally produced a performance under Luis Enrique to give them hope of being genuine contenders at next summer’s UEFA Euro 2020. They join France in the Nations League final four, to be played in October next year.
“It was one of the best and most complete matches of the Spanish national team,” Luis Enrique said.
France finished off their League A, Group 3 campaign by beating Sweden behind closed doors at the Stade de France as Olivier Giroud continued his remarkable scoring record for Les Bleus with a brace.
Viktor Claesson’s deflected early strike gave Sweden the lead, but Giroud soon equalized and Benjamin Pavard put France ahead before halftime.
Giroud then headed in Kylian Mbappe’s cross to make it 3-1 before the hour mark, and Kingsley Coman scored France’s final goal at the death after Robin Quaison had netted Sweden’s second.
Having recently overtaken Michel Platini’s tally of 41 goals for Les Bleus, Giroud is now on 44 and is closing in on Thierry Henry’s overall record of 51.
The 34-year-old remains a key player for France despite being on the periphery with his club Chelsea, for whom he has started just once this season, in the EFL Cup.
Sweden finished bottom of the group behind Croatia and are relegated to the second-tier League B for the next edition of the competition.
That is despite 10-man Croatia losing 3-2 at home to Portugal in Split, with Manchester City defender Ruben Dias getting a 90th-minute winner for last year’s Nations League champions.
Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic had scored twice for Croatia, either side of Dias’ first of the night and a Joao Felix effort for Portugal, who featured Cristiano Ronaldo wearing the captain’s armband.
Marko Rog was sent off for Croatia.
Tuesday’s other scheduled Group 4 game between Switzerland and Ukraine in Lucerne was postponed after six COVID-19 cases in the Ukraine squad led to their entire delegation being ordered into quarantine by Swiss health authorities.
Elsewhere, Montenegro’s 4-0 victory over Cyprus saw them top League C, Group 1 and win promotion to League B. Gibraltar and the Faroe Islands won promotion to League C.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care