Irankunda\u2019s nod to Socceroos legend after WC stunner<\/a><\/b><\/p>\nWorld Cup schedule for Monday June 15<\/b><\/p>\n
Match 10 \u2013 Group E – Germany defeat Curacao 7-1, NRG Stadium, Houston<\/p>\n
Match 11 \u2013 Group F – Netherlands vs Japan – 6am, AT&T Stadium, Arlington (Dallas)<\/p>\n
Match 9 \u2013 Group E – Cote d\u2019Ivoire vs Ecuador – 9am, Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia<\/p>\n
Match 12 \u2013 Group F – Sweden vs Tunisia – 12pm, Estadio BBVA, Monterrey<\/p>\n
GERMANY HAMMER WORLD CUP DEBUTANTS <\/b><\/p>\n
Germany won their first opening match at a World Cup since lifting the trophy in 2014 as they eased to a 7-1 win against debutants Curacao, with a population of about 158,000 people, in their opening Group E match in Houston on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Germans will face stiffer tests against group rivals Ecuador and Ivory Coast but the win against the tiny Caribbean nation puts them in a good position to progress to the knockout stages for the first time since 2014.<\/p>\n
An early German goal by Felix Nmecha was cancelled out by a deflected strike from Livano Comenencia which had the Curacao fans, known as the Blue Wave, out of their seats in Houston.<\/p>\n
However, Nico Schlotterbeck, Kai Havertz with a double, Jamal Musiala, Nathaniel Brown and Deniz Undav scored to put to bed any possibility of one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history.<\/p>\n
Germany settled early, Nmecha scoring a beauty in the sixth minute, receiving the ball from Florian Wirtz and curling the ball round a Curacao defender and past goalkeeper Eloy Room.<\/p>\n
The goal had coach Julian Nagelsmann letting out a huge roar. Nmecha, who like Musiala played for England at junior level before choosing Germany, went close minutes later with a rasping effort from outside the box.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Germany’s Nico Schlotterbeck. AP Photo\/Karen Warren<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nGerman goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who at 40 is the oldest German player ever to appear at a World Cup and is playing in his fifth global tournament, had had little to do until Comenencia struck with a shot which took a deflection.<\/p>\n
While Germany\u2019s senior citizen shook his head ruefully, the oldest coach to ever appear at the finals, 78-year-old Dick Advocaat, was up out of his seat arms raised.<\/p>\n
The drinks break allowed the Germans to regroup.<\/p>\n
Soon after the restart Schlotterbeck\u2019s header was brilliantly turned over the bar by Room.<\/p>\n
The four-time world champions huffed and puffed round the Curacao goal, but time and again desperate defending frustrated their Germans.<\/p>\n
However, the Curacao defence cracked in the 38th minute when an unmarked Schlotterbeck headed home from a corner for his first goal for his country.<\/p>\n
The Germans went into the break with a two-goal advantage as Havertz stroked home a penalty after Nmecha had been brought down by Riechedly Bazoer.<\/p>\n
Germany struck 69 seconds into the second half, Musiala running on to Joshua Kimmich\u2019s pass and scoring from a tight angle.<\/p>\n
It should have been 5-1 just after the hour mark but Leroy Sane sent his effort wide with only Room to beat.<\/p>\n
Where Sane came up short Brown did not as the fullback fired home just before the second hydration break.<\/p>\n
Substitute Undav made it six with his seventh goal in his last seven international appearances.<\/p>\n
Havertz rounded it off with his 24th goal for Germany to replicate the same scoreline as they famously recorded against hosts Brazil in the 2014 semi-finals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a joyous start to the Socceroos\u2019 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign, the tournament continues with contenders in action including a blockbuster between the Netherlands and Japan. Live updates from Monday at the World Cup below! UFC FREEDOM 250 | MONDAY 15 JUNE 10AM AEST | UFC Freedom 250 delivers a landmark night of fights […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":248302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-248301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}