Germany 0-1 Mexico: 3 things we learned

Mexico shocked Germany in the first game of World Cup Group E. Here are three things we learned from the match.

Mexico defeated Germany 1-0 in their opening group stage game, providing the World Cup with its biggest upset yet. Germany join France in 2002, Italy in 2010 and Spain in 2014 as defending World Cup champions to lose their opening game in the following tournament.

Mexico capitalize on a strong start

Mexico got off to a flying start, failing to convert a strong scoring chance in the opening minutes of the match. The opening was a sign of things to come for Mexico. El Tri used their speed up front to catch Germany out of position throughout the half.

Mexico clearly came into the game planning to counter-attack overly aggressive German attacks. With both German full-backs pushing forward, Mexico were able to play long balls out from the back to spring an attack. In addition to the full-backs being caught too far forward, Mexico were able to draw the German midfield too far forward. One of Mexico’s counter-attacks caught Sami Khedira almost 40 yards behind the play.

Another win against either Sweden or South Korea will likely be enough for El Tri to reach the round of 16. The win also takes pressure off of manager Juan Carlos Osorio, who was on the hot seat entering the tournament.

Mexico won narrowly, but could have blown Germany out

When Hirving Lozano scored in the 35th minute, Mexico probably should have been a couple goals up already. They had several good openings that they failed to convert — too many touches, a pass just too far out in front, an unwillingness to shoot when presented with the opportunity — which allowed Germany to stay in the game. El Tri can’t afford to waste the number of chances they had against Germany in future games against South Korea and Sweden.

Mexico were also impressive in defense. They were well organized and mostly restricted Germany to shots from outside the box, which Guillermo Ochoa dealt with well.  If Mexico are able to keep their strong positioning and defend as a team, they could reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 1986.

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Germany need to improve quickly

It’s hard to pinpoint any German player that played well. For most of the game, they looked slow, sloppy and sometimes out of position. Perhaps the only player that had an above average game was keeper Manuel Neuer, a relief given his injury issues over the past year.

The mistakes started at the back for Germany, with Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng sloppy with their passing. Both players struggled to deal with the speed of Mexico’s attack, while the rest of the Germany team did little to help their center-backs. Joshua Kimmich, Marvin Plattenhardt, Toni Kroos and Khedira aggressively pushed forward, leaving their center-backs exposed to the counter-attack.

Plattenhardt was forced into the starting XI after Jonas Hector was too ill to play. Die Mannschaft have to hope Hector is healthy enough to play against Sweden. While Hector is far from the flashiest player, he’s rarely caught out of position and is a defensive upgrade.

Given the numbers they were committing forward, Germany were surprisingly toothless in attack. Mexico successfully forced Die Mannschaft wide, where Kimmich and Plattenhardt sent in a lot of crosses into the box, almost every one failing to find a teammate. Germany’s best chance came shortly after they went behind, when Ochoa tipped Kroos’ free-kick onto the bar.

Joachim Low might consider changing his system. He left Reus on the bench to start the game, but they missed his speed and willingness to run at players. Khedira had an up and down season with Juventus. It might be time for Low to consider starting Ilkay Gundogan in his place.

It will also be interesting to see how long a leash Low has with Timo Werner. There’s no denying Werner is the best striker in the squad, but  the RB Leipzig star was almost invisible against Mexico. Mario Gomez isn’t as talented, but he’s experienced at this level and will provide a better target for all those crosses.