The Germany men’s Olympic team have made history by earning their place in the final of the tournament. Horst Hrubesch’s side beat Nigeria 2-0 in the semi-final in São Paulo and will meet the hosts Brazil in the tournament’s closing game on Saturday. The win was hard-fought, but Germany claimed an early advantage as Red Bull Leipzig forward Lukas Klostermann opened the scoring in the ninth minute. The win was sealed in the 89th minute with a close-range finish by Freiburg’s Nils Petersen.
Germany deserved their win over the course of the game, and will aim to secure a similar result in the final, not least as a farewell to the iconic Hrubesch, who will be departing his post at the end of the competition. Only two years on from Germany’s incredible last competitive meeting against Brazil, the Olympians will hope to recreate the glorious scenes of that night.
The Germans know to expect a tense, fiery atmosphere in the Maracana on Saturday, and an extremely difficult opponent. The hosts swept Honduras aside 6-0 in their own semi-final, with the superstar Neymar scoring twice and looking to be in exceptional form.
While Brazil look strong, Germany have also been excellent throughout the tournament. The battle with Nigeria came just four days after the resounding 4-0 triumph over Portugal, and the young side have managed 21 goals in their five matches thus far, and have grown in maturity and confidence with every game.
First Olympics goal for Klostermann
Germany’s number 11 was alert and threatening from the very beginning, notching the first goal in just nine minutes. After picking up a ball from Arsenal’s Serge Gnabry, captain Max Meyer picked out the run of Klostermann, who was left with a simple finish. It was Klostermann’s first goal of the tournament.
A brief moment of carelessness from goalkeeper Timo Horn saw Germany lose the ball in their own box minutes after taking the lead, but thankfully for the team the danger was averted. The moment of uncertainty appeared to restore Germany’s focus, and as the game wore on they created the more convincing chances and deserved their lead. Gnabry and Julian Brandt were threatening on the wings and allowed Germany to maintain a high tempo. Lars Bender came close to making it 2-0 in the 20th minute, but missed his close-range effort.
Nigeria, Olympic champions in 1996 and runners-up in 2008, were always a dangerous presence. Germany relied on strong moments defensive moments from Hoffenheim’s Niklas Süle and Borussia Dortmund’s Matthias Ginter to keep the scores level in the first half.
Little changed initially after the break, but Germany steadily exerted more and more control over proceedings, holding the ball well and continuing to make chances as they searched for the confirmation goal. Gnabry and striker Davie Selke came close early on in the second period. The West Africans held their ground well, but Germany stayed in charge. Petersen’s late finish from Selke’s ball across the box was the perfect ending.
