Paraguay knock out Germany on pens

It is a huge result for Paraguay, but Germany still created enough to make this feel harsh. The shootout just punished every little wobble.
 
I do not think this was just Germany collapsing. Paraguay made it awkward from start to finish and forced the game into their kind of chaos.
 
Germany probably still had enough quality on paper to get through, but the game state never really suited them and Paraguay were happy to make it ugly. Once it went to a shootout, all the confidence seemed to drain away and that is usually where these things are decided tbh
 
A lot of people will just reduce this to Germany bottling another big moment, but I think Paraguay deserve more credit than that because they clearly came with a plan and stuck to it for the full match. They were not trying to win a beauty contest, they were trying to survive and then flip the pressure back on Germany, and that is exactly what happened. The weird thing is how quickly these games turn into national therapy sessions, one minute you are talking about tactics and the next everyone is acting like the whole footballing world has ended, which is probably why penalty shootouts are so addictive and so awful at the same time because they turn grown men into complete messes in front of millions
 
Germany will take a lot of criticism, but Paraguay were excellent at making the game uncomfortable. Once the match reached penalties, the momentum and belief seemed to be with the underdogs. That is why this result feels so significant.
 
all that talk about germany and then they go out like that absolutely priceless mate proper tinpot ending for them and now everyone gets to pretend they saw it coming when most of them were bigging them up all week
 
paraguay did the sensible thing really sat deep kept their shape and made germany force it through crowded areas then once it got to pens it was always going to be about nerve and rhythm and germany just looked like they were thinking too much
 
nah i dont think its fair to say germany were awful the whole game because they still controlled a lot of it but paraguay were set up to survive and they did that job perfectly so the result makes sense even if it hurts
 
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