Extra-time goals by substitute Andre Schurrle and Mesut Ozil sealed Germany’s 2-1 win over Algeria in Monday’s last-16 clash and put the three-time winners into the World Cup quarter-finals.
The victory at Porto Alegre’s Estadio Beira-Rio was Germany’s first over Algeria at the third attempt, but this was a far from impressive display by the Germans over 120 minutes.
Schurrle’s deft flick on 92 minutes, then Ozil’s 119th-minute tap-in was enough to put Joachim Loew’s Germany into Friday’s quarter-final at Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Maracana against France.
“We’d have prefered to win in 90 minutes, but the Algerians did a good job,” said goal-scorer Schurrle.
“We don’t care how we did it, the main thing is we’re in the quarter-finals.”
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Algeria grabbed a deserved consolation for a battling display just before the final whistle as replacement Abdelmoumene Djabou claimed his second World Cup goal.
The stats show Germany had more than three times as many shots on goal as Algeria and their lack of finishing will be a concern for Loew.
“That victory was down to sheer willpower,” admitted the German coach.
“We gave away a lot of ball, made too many defensive errors and allowed them to counter-attack us.
“It was just as well that (Germany goalkeeper) Manuel Neuer came out time and time again.
“Our finishing must be better against France.”
Much of the pre-match talk had been of Algerian revenge more than three decades after the ‘Shame of Gijon’ when Germany’s mutually beneficial 1-0 win over Austria sent Algeria home from the 1982 World Cup.
But Germany progress to the last eight at the expense of the north Africans, who had reached the last-16 of a World Cup for the first time.
Schurrle’s opening goal was just reward for a battling display as he created a string of chances after replacing the ineffective Mario Gotze at the break.
A blocked Gotze shot and a Thomas Muller header were all Germany had to show for an opening 45 minutes which allowed Algeria to grow in confidence.
Sampdoria’s Shkodran Mustafi, who later limped out with a second-half hamstring injury, was a late call-up before kick-off at right-back in a reshuffled defence as flu-victim Mats Hummels dropped out.
Algeria had by far the better of the opening exchanges and forward Islam Slimani had the ball in the German net on 16 minutes, but was flagged for offside.
Schurrle made the difference after the break as left-back Benedikt Howedes headed straight at Algeria keeper Rais M’Bolhi, while Germany captain Philipp Lahm fired wide with a long-range effort on 54 minutes.
Mustafi’s injury brought Real Madrid’s defensive midfielder Sami Khedira off the bench for the last 20 minutes as Lahm slotted into right-back.
Algeria kept pushing forward, but only a crucial M’Bolhi save denied Muller with a bullet-header on 80 minutes before he hit the side netting moments later.
“We’re very disappointed, because we felt there was something to have been had from this match,” said M’Bolhi.
“We’re part of Algerian football history, no other team went so far before and we showed we can play on an equal footing at the highest level.
“We really want to build on this and push on.”
Extra-time had barely begun when Muller fired in a cross which Schurrle deflected into the back of the net with a deft flick to spare German blushes.
Algeria kept up the fight and Mehdi Mostefa was left with his head in his hands when he fired wide just before the end of the first period of extra time.
Ozil looked to have killed off Algeria’s hopes when he added the Germans’ second just before the final whistle after an exchange of passes with the impressive Schurrle.
But there was still enough time for Djabou to blast home a thunderbolt of a shot to spark faint hope before the referee ended Algeria’s quarter-final dreams.
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SQUADS
South Africa:
JP Duminy (capt), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wkt), AB de Villiers, Robbie Frylinck, Beuran Hendricks, David Miller, Mangaliso Mosehle (wkt), Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Tabraiz Shamsi
Bangladesh
Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Imrul Kayes, Liton Das (wkt), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wkt), Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed
Fixtures
Oct 26: Bloemfontein
Oct 29: Potchefstroom
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
FA Cup quarter-final draw
The matches will be played across the weekend of 21 and 22 March
Sheffield United v Arsenal
Newcastle v Manchester City
Norwich v Derby/Manchester United
Leicester City v Chelsea
KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN MARITIME DISPUTE
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 611bhp
Torque: 620Nm
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Price: upon application
On sale: now
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 275hp at 6,600rpm
Torque: 353Nm from 1,450-4,700rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Top speed: 250kph
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: Dh146,999
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
The biog
Age: 35
Inspiration: Wife and kids
Favourite book: Changes all the time but my new favourite is Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Best Travel Destination: Bora Bora , French Polynesia
Favourite run: Jabel Hafeet, I also enjoy running the 30km loop in Al Wathba cycling track
