FeWC of Football Manager: Germany loses to Indonesia in the final

Indonesia, led by head coach Ichsan Taufiq (l.) and assistant coach Manar Hidayat (r.), are world champions in FM.
FIFA via Getty Images

“We have never seen Germany under so much pressure in this tournament,” the experts on the stream said in amazement. In the first leg of the final, Indonesia, which had previously beaten hosts England 5-3, was already the dominant team from the kick-off.

After five minutes of play, Ademola Lookman opened the scoring with a powerful shot into the near corner (5th minute). Then the German defense also made a mistake: Odilon Kossounou carelessly lost the ball in his own penalty area – and Niclas Füllkrug, of all people, took advantage of this faux pas (19th minute). The DFB team also created some good opportunities, but failed to capitalize on them – so it happened as it had to. Matteo Politano increased the score to 0:3 from Germany’s perspective in the 69th minute of play.

“It is the German player Niclas Füllkrug who makes the Germans cry,” said Indonesia’s assistant coach Manar Hidayat before the second duel, firing a jab at the DFB team. An extra portion of motivation to catch up? The second encounter was the same: Germany wasted chances, Indonesia hit the target. With a quick double strike by Politano (15th) and Xavi Simons (19th), the final seemed to have already been decided. But the DFB team came close. Terem Moffi (50th) and two in-game minutes later, Dimitrios Giannoulis equalized at least in the return match.

Naturally, German head coach Sven Goly and his assistant Tery Whenett went all in – in vain. Indonesia exploited the gaps: Füllkrug (66th/85th) and Alejandro Grimaldo (90th) increased the lead significantly. The very first trophies of the FIFAe World Cup of Football Manager and prize money of 10,000 US dollars thus go to Indonesia.

However, it was precisely at the end of the competition that ‘Svonn’ and Whenett met their match, even though everything had gone almost perfectly in the days before and in the semi-finals.

Semi-final: Key figures Tah and Raum – goal of the tournament?

“They were much better and deserved to reach the final,” South Africa’s head coach Enzo Bento had to admit at the organizer’s microphone after the semi-final. The deciding factor was the first leg, in which Germany “had a clear plan and implemented it very well.” The plan included Jonathan Tah in particular – as well as the two full-backs David Raum and Denzel Dumfries, who, according to Goly, “are unstoppable.”

Leverkusen’s Tah was actually part of the three-man defense, but played very offensively – and successfully. In the 25th minute of the game, he took a clearance from the opponent with his chest and thundered the ball into the net from the second row. The defender played a preparatory role in the 2-0. Raum, who always takes dangerous set pieces, crossed a free kick into the penalty area. Tah headed the ball on and Odilon Kossounou also headed the ball to make it 2-0 (36′). Randal Kolo Muani made the decision in the closing seconds of the first half – he also scored with a header.

The Germans’ match plan works perfectly in the semi-finals.
FIFA via Getty Images

If Enzo Bento had any hope for the second half, Christian Kouamé nipped it in the bud – with a dream goal. Just a short time after the restart, Kouamé anticipated an imprecise back pass to the goalkeeper and lobbed the ball over the keeper in Raúl style at the corner of the penalty area to make it 4-0. South Africa also created a few opportunities, but it was not really dangerous for the DFB team. Kolo Muani increased the lead to 5-0 in the 76th minute of the game – but the virtual VAR canceled the goal due to offside.

VAR with a lot of work: South Africa’s hope returns

Unlike the first leg, the second leg picked up speed much earlier. Also because South Africa had to go all in: Marcus Thuram failed to hit the underside of the crossbar shortly after kick-off (5th minute), but he scored five minutes later to make it 1-0. The start of a comeback? Not really: The DFB team shook themselves off briefly and equalized twice. But both of Moffi’s goals were disallowed by the in-game VAR for offside.

It was a back and forth game – Kolo Muani ultimately made the decision. Here too, the in-game VAR took a closer look, but ultimately gave the goal. To gain the lead, Goly then brought on Dumfries and Raum. Both had been cautioned, having been absent from the first leg of the final when another yellow card was shown. However, they were allowed to contest that, as Goly and Whenett’s team did not let anything go wrong.