Curaçao scores a goal in its first World Cup game, but Germany still gets a blowout win
· Yahoo Sports
Curaçao got a goal in its first World Cup game. And that was the only highlight for the smallest nation in the tournament.
Germany sped past Curaçao 7-1 on Sunday in Houston as Group E opened play. The Germans were massive favorites ahead of the game and the final score reflected it. But Curacao at least had a moment of hope early on.
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After Germany went up 1-0 on an early Felix Nmecha goal, Curacao scored its first-ever World Cup goal on just its second shot of the game when Luciano Comenencia's shot deflected past Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
It was a sharp counter-attack after Germany dominated the opening stages of the game. Yes, Germany's defending was poor to not get the ball out of the box. But Curaçao adeptly took advantage.
That hope of stealing a point — or even all three points — lasted less than 20 minutes before German defender Nico Schlotterbeck headed home a cross to restore the Germans' lead.
The lead was two just before halftime when Nmecha was tripped inside the Curacao penalty box. The obvious foul received little protestation from Curacao's players, and Kai Havertz converted the penalty.
From there, the second half was a formality. Especially after Jamal Musiala scored less than two minutes after halftime as the Germans added three more in the second half to turn what was setting up to be a comfortable win into an absolute rout.
Even though the win was largely expected, it's a big step for Germany in its quest to get out of the group stages of the World Cup for the first time since winning the tournament in 2014. The victory is just the third for Germany in its last seven World Cup games. They'll be assured of moving onto the knockout rounds of the expanded tournament with a win over either Cote d'Ivoire or Ecuador.
Curaçao, meanwhile, still remain's the group's massive underdogs and goal differential is now against it as well. Simply put, Curaçao needs improbable wins against the other two teams in the group to get to the Round of 32.