UFWC Match #959
6th September 2019
Volksparkstadion, Hamburg (9') 1:0 S. Gnabry
(59') 1:1 F. de Jong
(66') 1:2 J. Tah (own goal)
(73') 2:2 T. Kroos (penalty)
(79') 2:3 D. Malen
(90+1') 2:4 G. Wijnaldum For the third time in 11 months Germany and Netherlands met each other in a UFWC title match. After a 2-2 draw in November 2018 and the UFWC title win from Germany in March 2019 the dutch team was motivated to not only win the trophy back but to also polish their so far not very successful start into the UEFA2020 qualifying campaign. And UFWC match #959 was not going to disappoint! After Germany's Serge Gnabry scored a wonderful goal only 9 minutes after kick-off not much was left to report on the first half, which ended with not much of emotions and all viewers might have been afraid to witness a boring second half maybe - but this was definitely not the case. As Netherlands already had the majority of possession during first half, they were able to turn that dominance into fine chances after the break. The equalizer was done by Frenkie de Jong (59') to be turned into the 1-2 lead after a own goal from Jonathan Tah, caused by high pressure from the oranje Elftal, which would have been most likely converted by any of the several dutch players in the box as well. But only 5 minutes later the ultimate shock came over the team from the Netherlands as the referee decided penalty for Germany after a ridiculous "hand" play from Mathijs de Ligt - this decision might start a discussion on the currently changed FIFA rules that any contact from ball to arm/hand inside the box needs to be charged with a penalty. Toni Kroos used the chance and it was all level on 2-2 again. But what happened after this unfortunate decision within the dutch team needs to be highlighted: they obviously recovered quickly and made their advantage from Germany's sleepiness - debutant Donyell Malen scored the 2-3 in the 79th minute. And as Jogi Low decided for a more offensive lineup by bringing in Julian Brandt for Matthias Ginter in the 84th minute the Netherlands were able to score a 4th goal after 91 minutes (Wijnaldum) to ensure they are Unofficial Football World Champions again. Netherlands are now having 53 UFWC wins on their account - and as Argentina would have hoped on a german win to get their UFWC chance in October again - the dutch will try to hunt some more wins to get closer to rank 3 in the UFWC all time ranking! Next challenger will be Estonia on Monday 9th September 2019 already - we will see if their second UFWC appearance is more joyful than the 0-8 loss versus Germany in June 2019. If you want to stay up-to-date on all things UFWC follow us on facebook or twitter!
Germany 2-4 Netherlands
6th September 2019
Volksparkstadion, Hamburg (9') 1:0 S. Gnabry
(59') 1:1 F. de Jong
(66') 1:2 J. Tah (own goal)
(73') 2:2 T. Kroos (penalty)
(79') 2:3 D. Malen
(90+1') 2:4 G. Wijnaldum For the third time in 11 months Germany and Netherlands met each other in a UFWC title match. After a 2-2 draw in November 2018 and the UFWC title win from Germany in March 2019 the dutch team was motivated to not only win the trophy back but to also polish their so far not very successful start into the UEFA2020 qualifying campaign. And UFWC match #959 was not going to disappoint! After Germany's Serge Gnabry scored a wonderful goal only 9 minutes after kick-off not much was left to report on the first half, which ended with not much of emotions and all viewers might have been afraid to witness a boring second half maybe - but this was definitely not the case. As Netherlands already had the majority of possession during first half, they were able to turn that dominance into fine chances after the break. The equalizer was done by Frenkie de Jong (59') to be turned into the 1-2 lead after a own goal from Jonathan Tah, caused by high pressure from the oranje Elftal, which would have been most likely converted by any of the several dutch players in the box as well. But only 5 minutes later the ultimate shock came over the team from the Netherlands as the referee decided penalty for Germany after a ridiculous "hand" play from Mathijs de Ligt - this decision might start a discussion on the currently changed FIFA rules that any contact from ball to arm/hand inside the box needs to be charged with a penalty. Toni Kroos used the chance and it was all level on 2-2 again. But what happened after this unfortunate decision within the dutch team needs to be highlighted: they obviously recovered quickly and made their advantage from Germany's sleepiness - debutant Donyell Malen scored the 2-3 in the 79th minute. And as Jogi Low decided for a more offensive lineup by bringing in Julian Brandt for Matthias Ginter in the 84th minute the Netherlands were able to score a 4th goal after 91 minutes (Wijnaldum) to ensure they are Unofficial Football World Champions again. Netherlands are now having 53 UFWC wins on their account - and as Argentina would have hoped on a german win to get their UFWC chance in October again - the dutch will try to hunt some more wins to get closer to rank 3 in the UFWC all time ranking! Next challenger will be Estonia on Monday 9th September 2019 already - we will see if their second UFWC appearance is more joyful than the 0-8 loss versus Germany in June 2019. If you want to stay up-to-date on all things UFWC follow us on facebook or twitter!
