Mexico shocks defending champ Germany 1-0 at World Cup
MOSCOW — Defending World Cup champions have been finding it hard to get out of the group stage lately, and Germany is proving no exception.
The 2014 champions, ranked No. 1 in the world, were exposed defensively and surprisingly beaten by Mexico 1-0 on Sunday, putting its hopes of advancement in doubt.
Well, not everyone is in doubt.
“We will make it,” Germany coach Joachim Loew said. “There’s no reason to fall apart because you lose one game.”
Hirving Lozano scored the lone goal in the 35th minute, picking up Javier Hernandez’s pass inside the penalty area and beating Mesut Ozil before shooting past Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer from 10 yards.
The goal decided the match — a match Germany didn’t expect to lose.
“I don’t know if it’s the biggest victory in (Mexico’s) history, but one of the biggest for sure,” Lozano said. “My teammates and I did some great work. We all ran our hearts out. This is the result of all that hard work.”
Three of the previous four defending World Cup champions failed to reach the knockout stages, France, Italy and Spain. Two of them lost their opening matches while the Italians had to settle for a draw.
The Germans are bidding to become the first team to retain the World Cup title since Brazil in 1962, but have now won only one of their last seven games in all competitions. They hadn’t lost an opening game since the then-West Germany fell 2-1 to Algeria in 1982.
Mexico had never beaten Germany in a competitive match but was transformed from the team which lost to the Germans 4-1 in last year’s Confederations Cup, conceding twice in the opening eight minutes.
Lozano, a 22-year-old forward nicknamed “Chucky,” got Mexico going with a deflected shot over the bar in the first minute. That set the tone for Mexico to torment Germany on the counterattack, with Lozano taking full advantage of right back Joshua Kimmich’s tendency to go forward.
“We were nervous and we weren’t playing the game we wanted to play,” Loew said. “We need to see what caused this.”
After Lozano’s goal, Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa pulled off a spectacular save to keep the score even, palming Toni Kroos’ shot onto the crossbar.
With key players tiring in the second half, Mexico pulled back and substituted both Lozano and Carlos Vela. Germany then dominated but when it broke through the Mexican defense, the shooting was poor.
Seeking defensive reinforcement, Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio brought on 39-year-old veteran Rafael Marquez to play in his fifth World Cup.
“You had the feeling that the ball just wouldn’t go in anyhow,” Loew said. “Everyone’s very disappointed.”
Brazil, Switzerland play to 1-1 draw
Brazil joined the list of big teams struggling to win their opening matches at the World Cup in Russia.
The five-time champions were held to a 1-1 draw by Switzerland on Sunday.
Philippe Coutinho gave Brazil the lead in the 20th minute with a volley that bounced in off the right post. Steven Zuber then headed in the equalizer in the 50th. Mexican referee Cesar Ramos dismissed complaints that Zuber had shoved defender Miranda before getting to the corner from Xherdan Shaqiri.
Switzerland’s players dominated the midfield for long spells against a Brazil team that lost its previous World Cup match 7-1 to Germany in the 2014 semifinals.
Since taking charge in 2016, however, Brazil coach Tite has only lost once in 22 games.
Besides Brazil and Germany, Argentina was held to a 1-1 draw by Iceland on Saturday and Spain and Portugal played to a 3-3 draw on Friday.
Serbia beats Costa Rica 1-0
SAMARA, Russia — With a curling free kick that decided the outcome of the match, Aleksandar Kolarov immediately drew some comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Serbia captain’s left-footed strike proved to be the difference in a 1-0 victory over Costa Rica on Sunday at the World Cup. It came two days after Ronaldo scored a similar goal to give Portugal a 3-3 draw with Spain.
“It was an amazing goal,” Costa Rica defender Bryan Oviedo said of Kolarov’s effort. “Maybe two out 10 balls will go in like that.”
After Costa Rica midfielder David Guzman was handed a yellow card, Kolarov stepped up and curled his shot over the wall and into the net in the 56th minute. Keylor Navas, the Costa Rica goalkeeper who plays for Real Madrid, stretched but couldn’t stop the swerving ball.
It was the third free kick goal so far at the World Cup: Russia midfielder Aleksandr Golovin had one in stoppage time in the 5-0 tournament opener against Saudi Arabia and Ronaldo capped his hat trick against Spain with the other.
“We knew that set pieces were our forte,” said Kolarov, who now plays for Roma after a stint with Manchester City. “We practiced them on the training ground. I practiced set pieces, and this was enough for three points.”
The victory gave the Serbians the early advantage in a tough Group E, which also includes five-time champion Brazil and Switzerland.
“It’s especially important that we have three points in the bag,” Kolarov said. “The match against Switzerland is going to be the most difficult one. Of course we want to win. Let’s see what the game brings. There’s not much time to celebrate. We will celebrate, but up to a point. Not excessively.”
The final moments of the match were marked by a squabble on the sidelines as Nemanja Matic got into a tussle with a Costa Rican assistant. Players from both teams rushed toward the scrum but it was quickly diffused. Video replay was also used late in the match to determine if Aleksandar Prijovic should be given a red card. He was given a yellow.
The Ticos were the surprise of the last World Cup, reaching the quarterfinals in Brazil before being ousted by the Netherlands on penalties. It was the furthest the small Central American nation had advanced in soccer’s premier tournament.
But there was some uncertainty surrounding the team after a pair of friendly losses heading into the World Cup, including a 4-1 rout by Belgium a week ago.
“The Serbians did their homework very well,” Costa Rica coach Oscar Ramirez said. “We tried to pressure them. And I think it was a tight match. We should have capitalized on our opportunities the same way they did.”
Serbia coach Mladen Krstajic, who replaced Slavoljub Muslin last year, put together a veteran defense with Kolarov and former Chelsea player Branislav Ivanovic. Also included were Manchester United midfielder Matic, and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who had an apparent falling out with Muslin but was brought to Russia by Krstajic.
Ivanovic made his record 104th appearance for the national team, surpassing Dejan Stankovic’s mark. The 34-year-old Ivanovic had matched Stankovic’s record last Saturday in a 5-1 friendly win over Bolivia. Stankovic, known as “Deki,” played for the national team from 1998-2013, through three different eras: Yugoslavia, Serbia-Montenegro and finally Serbia.
