Four days ago I already ranted about our inability to ever defeat Italy. But today is a new day - solid ball possession, great defending (Wow! What just happened?!) and even scoring after a corner (OMG, this is a once-in-a-lifetime moment!). We won 0-1 with a B-side (lacking the likes of Neuer, Lahm, Schweini, Gündogan, Özil, Müller and Klose) against England's A-team at Wembley. The only regulars on the field were probably Mertesacker, Boateng, Schmelzer and Reus. I haven't been so proud of our team in a while. Why can't we be this confident when facing Italy?
It's not like our reserves are weak, we definitely have an overall strong squad. Most of them wouldn't get benched if they played for any other team in the world (Höwedes, Hummels, Kroos, Götze, Draxler, Schürrle, the Bender twins etc.) We just need to seize our opportunities and never neglect the defense. Sven & Lars Bender played 90 minutes as double CDMs for the first time ever, which was quite fun to watch. At times the TV commentators couldn't keep up any more, "Bender passing to his twin brother, the other Bender!" Roman Weidenfeller made his well deserved debut, it certainly was emotional even for someone who does not support Dortmund. All we need now is to be prepared for the South American climate, uh oh.
What else is new? Sweden didn't make it to the World Cup through Playoffs. I feel a bit sorry for them, as they played really well against us in the Qualifying Round. I guess Portugal wanted it more, C. Ronaldo's hat-trick was unbelievable. France made the impossible possible by defeating Ukraine 3-0 at home after having lost 0-2 away. You gotta respect that.
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