After the defeat to direct competitor the Netherlands, not many people believe that Germany can end the Euro 2020 qualifiers as the top team in Group C.
In addition, the former world champion's recent playing style has also been met with criticism as they often have difficulty against teams below their class level.
Before entering the penultimate match, Germany had 15 points like the Netherlands but ranked 2nd due to a weaker head-to-head advantage. Germany will qualify for Euro 2020 if they beat Belarus and Northern Ireland cannot beat the Netherlands in the match at the same time.
To ensure the necessary conditions, coach Joachim Low has launched his best cards. The four cross-field central midfielders are Ilkay Gundogan, Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka and Toni Kroos. The task of all 4 stars is to "shield" the striker pair with very good speed and a very wide range, Serge Gnabry - Timo Werner.
With home advantage and quality names in the squad, Germany started the game better and created good opportunities first but Matthias Ginter (minute 15.5) and Werner (minute 39.9) both unfortunately missed. Not only that, Die Mannschaft's loose defense also caused Manuel Neuer to save twice in 1 minute (in the 40th minute) from Igor Stasevich and Denis Laptev's shots on the Belarus side.
Not long after Neuer had to become an uncompromising hero, Germany scored to take the lead. In the 41st minute, center back Ginter, in an attack, had a beautiful header from Gnabry's cross, defeating goalkeeper Aleksandr Gutor. The 1-0 home side was also the result of the first 45 minutes of play.
With the opening goal, the German team played more enthusiastically in the second half of the match. Just 4 minutes after the second half returned, Kroos took a favorable corner kick for teammate Goretzka to run up and finish powerfully from the second line to double the gap for Die Mannschaft.
Just 6 minutes later, the score was 3-0 when Kroos launched a one-touch shot from outside the penalty area, leaving goalkeeper Gutor unable to stand still and look.
2 consecutive goals in just a few minutes helped Germany secure the victory and play leisurely in the remaining time. Their decline helped Belarus rise. In the 75th minute, center back Robin Koch fouled Pavel Nekhajchik in the penalty area. The referee immediately pointed to the penalty spot but fortunately for the home team, captain Neuer made an excellent save.
Belarus will have to regret missing the golden opportunity to score an honorary goal because by the 83rd minute, they had conceded for the 4th goal. The Germany striker was the standout performer in the match, Kroos. The Real Madrid midfielder received a pass from Gundogan and skillfully handled the two away team players before finishing dangerously to defeat Gutor.
In the end, Germany won 4-0 and officially qualified for Euro 2020. Not only that, the Netherlands was unexpectedly held to a 0-0 draw by North Ailen in the match at the same time, helping Die Mannschaft rise to the top of Group C. Coach Low and his students will definitely end the qualifying round as the top team if they beat North Ailen at home in the final match.
