The scoreline had a gilded edge to it, but Germany's 7-1 win over Curacao did not have the air of a title contender to it. If there is a way to underwhelm while running up the goals then this was it, a team that clearly has the talent to brush aside an opponent ranked 82nd in the world, 73 spots below them, but who has an air of the slapdash to them that has still not quite cleared.
When Germany were good they were electric. Felix Nmecha bent in a wonderful opener in the sixth minute, Jamal Musiala's low drive for the fourth was the sort that much better goalkeepers than Eloy Room would have been undone by. The set pieces swung into the six-yard box were a constant threat, resulting in a fine header from Nico Schlotterbeck. It was not just the goals either. Jonathan Tah's ball through the lines teed up Leroy Sane for a wonderful chance with which he should have done better. Kai Havertz, who scored a penalty, linked excellently with those behind him. Nmecha always seemed in control.
There was a fair bit to like from this team, who proved at Euro 2024 that they can give it a go against the true top-tier contenders. Perhaps this still fairly young team, Manuel Neuer notwithstanding, can go closer. The ceiling of Julian Nagelsmann's side was never going to emerge against an opponent that they were always expected to beat and beat well.
What Curacao could establish was where Germany's floor lies. After all Dick Advocaat's side are not the archetypal butchers, bakers and candle stick makers that so many heavy underdogs are viewed as in the international game. A concerted effort to naturalise the diaspora, much of it to be found in the Netherlands, means Curacao's is a squad with plenty of representatives from the Dutch Eredivisie and the English Football League. In competitive terms this is perhaps less Germany vs. San Marino, more MLS vs. USL or Premier League vs. upper-tier League One in a domestic cup.
CBS Sports This was a game that reaffirmed the big picture. Germany are really good, much better than a team who had never played a World Cup game before today. The xG, the possession, the scoreline: they all tell us something we already knew. And that scoreline is so good our xG chart can't fit all their goals in.
However what we're looking at is the moments that might be more applicable against the contenders that any German side should measure itself again. That means a laser focus on the faintly slapdash quality that has reared its head with Nagelsmann's team before. It's the lack of intensity that Nathaniel Brown showed when Curacao launched one across the field to Sherel Floranus. Schlotterbeck found himself isolated two vs. one, but too few of his teammates really hurried back before Livano Comenencia had bent in an equaliser that will live on and on in Curacaon history. For a time they had the Germans rocked -- perhaps this game would have been slightly different in a World Cup without hydration/ad breaks -- and even when the game was long since lost they were poking at gaps behind the German fullbacks. They only emerged in fleeting moments, but there were vulnerabilities here that superior opposition will fancy themselves to continually expose.
It is the fact that we expected those issues to emerge in the competition that at least partially colors what was ultimately a good win where Germany played really good football. That was never in doubt. What was was whether this remained the sort of team that could drop to the level that has seen them beaten by Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Turkey and Colombia in recent memory. No matter how emphatic the scoreline was, those worries have not been dispelled. Perhaps there was nothing they could have done to do that.
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