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By:
Associated Press
- November 27, 2022 11:00
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A surprise defeat in the opening game has Germany going into the second leg looking for a win to avoid a second early World Cup exit.
Too bad for Germany playing against Spain.
Spain won 7-0 against Costa Rica in the opening game, which was the biggest triumph of this year's tournament. It was also the biggest victory for La Roja in a World Cup and the first victory in the opening match since 2006.
Germany must concentrate on its destiny to avoid the third defeat in a row in a world cup. Before Germany's early exit in 2018, the men's team had not failed to get past the group stage on this stage since 1938.
The four-time World Cup winners were beaten 2-1 by Japan on Wednesday. Spain and Japan lead Group E with three points each, while Germany and Costa Rica have no points.
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The match Spain - Germany is played at 20:00 at the "Al Bayt" stadium.
"We are optimistic", said the German selector, Hansi Flick, on Saturday. "We must be brave and believe in our quality. We want to continue with our game, because we have quality. We trust the team. We have positive signals and we want to approach the match against Spain on Sunday in a positive way. It's just important to deal with defeat, but we have to be calm in our heads and focus on the next task and that's our aim, to get the team to a point where they naturally believe they can push things. in the right direction on Sunday."
Spain, meanwhile, have lost just one of their last seven matches against Germany. This will be the eighth meeting between the two at the World Cup, with Spain having won the last 1-0 in the semi-finals of the 2010 tournament.
Spain was very dominant against Costa Rica and their possession of 81.9% was the most in a World Cup since the 1966 World Cup, when Opta services started providing data. The previous record was set by Argentina in 2010 with 80.3% of ball possession.
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In Spain, they are optimistic before the match with Germany
Spain has won the first two matches in the World Cup only three times. Coach Luis Enrique has asked the group to have full confidence.
"Against a team like Germany, we cannot have too much confidence, because they will defeat us," said Luis Enrique. "It is a rival that requires all our attention and effort. It will be a big challenge for us", said Luis Enrique.
