Paraguay stun Germany in World Cup penalty shootout shock
FOXBOROUGH: Jonathan Tah skied Germany’s sixth spot kick well over the crossbar after seeing his apparent extra-time winner controversially disallowed, and Paraguay knocked the Germans out of the World Cup with a 4-3 win on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the round of 32 on Monday.
Tah missed after Orlando Gill saved Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade to put Paraguay in control, only for the Albirroja to flub their first two chances to seal the tiebreaker.
Manuel Neuer saved the second of those against Fabian Balbuena to force an improbable sixth round of kicks.
But Tah’s effort never came close to finding the net, and after Jose Canale converted, Paraguay were through to the last 16 in their first World Cup since 2010, at the expense of a German side that hasn’t reached that stage since winning the 2014 tournament.
Gill also made six saves over 120 minutes for Paraguay, who are looking to repeat their quarter-final appearance from 2010.
Germany thought they’d won it in extra time on Tah’s 102nd-minute header of Nathaniel Brown’s corner kick.
But referee Jalal Jayed was summoned to the replay monitor by lead VAR Tatiana Guzman. After rewatching the play, he wiped off the goal, ruling Waldemar Anton had fouled Gill to free up space for Tah’s header at the back post.
Julio Enciso put Paraguay in front in the 42nd minute on one of the South Americans’ only forays forward before half-time with a neat header of Matias Galarza’s cross from near the penalty spot.
Havertz levelled for Germany nine minutes after the break on an even better headed finish, flicking on Florian Wirtz’s inswinging service into the bottom right corner.
Tah’s disallowed goal was one of a flood of later chances where the Germans just couldn’t find the breakthrough.
In the 78th minute, Havertz again connected from even closer range, but this time Gill lunged left in time to deny the effort.
In the 86th, Leon Goretzka met Wirtz’s corner but saw his defender kept out of the goal by his own team-mate Anton, who was standing near the line in an offside position.
And then in the second extra time, Anton reached another German corner himself in the 118th minute, his header directed straight into Gill’s waiting arms on the goal line.
