Richard Buxton: Loew's bold gamble paid off
Lineker's classic comments validated again after Germany coach's tactical tweaks
Germany are the perfect amalgamation of a superhero's nemesis.
They are Darth Vader in Star Wars, The Joker from Batman and Superman's Lex Luthor rolled into one.
No matter how much everyone wills them to be killed off, they somehow come back even stronger.
That is what makes Die Mannschaft such a compelling prospect at this World Cup after Toni Kroos delivered a late 2-1 win over Sweden yesterday morning (Singapore time).
Three of the previous four world champions have seen their title defence crumble in the group stages, and Joachim Loew's side are by no means immune from adding to that statistic.
In Sochi, however, their pedigree in international tournaments again shone through.
At both the World Cup and European Championship, Germany have been a regular fixture until at least the semi-final stage in 21 of 27 previous outings - a feat unrivalled by any other team.
Defeat by Mexico last weekend had left Loew staring down the barrel, not least after bullishly forecasting that his side would still reach the knock-out stages at this summer's Finals.
Replacing Mesut Oezil and Sami Khedira, both ponderous and passenger-like against "El Tri" in Moscow, initially re-calibrated Germany with the Arsenal playmaker's replacement Marco Reus a perennial headache for an otherwise formidable Swedish back line.
Yet their opponents' ability to withstand the pressure, like Mexico previously, was reflected in the opening exchanges, with only 19 completed passes to the 169 executed by Loew's side.
Reus' equaliser came from his country's 34th attempt at goal in over two hours of play - a stark contrast to Ola Toivonen breaking the deadlock with only his second touch of the ball in Sochi and on the back of 23 scoreless appearances for Toulouse in Ligue 1 last season.
The Swedes' counter-attacks became the Germans' Achilles heel long after conceding Toivonen's opener and could have easily been their undoing when Loew threw caution to the wind by deploying three strikers in a valiant attempt to stem the tide.
That tactical brinkmanship, coupled with the body blows of injury to Sebastian Rudy and Jerome Boateng's seemingly inevitable dismissal, left only two defenders on the pitch by the end of proceedings.
It was a move of reckless abandon unbecoming of such a well-drilled machine, but people tend to resort to desperate measures in troubling times - especially football managers.
Inadvertently, Loew's players have embarked on a learning curve at this World Cup.
They are discovering the hard way that no one will allow them to march through without reproach.
Gary Lineker once claimed that football is a simple game where 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.
For now at least, that mantra continues to ring true.
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