😳 World Cup opener goes wrong, Germany suffer heavy 3-0 defeat

The SOCCA World Championship kicked off on Saturday in Cancún, Mexico. Thirty-two nations are competing for the title. For the German small-sided team, the opening match was against Ukraine. The goal: to secure the first points.

Even before kickoff, it was clear how tough the task would be. Goalkeeper Lukas Betz, who also plays in the Icon League, described it as a "real heavyweight." The first few minutes confirmed this.

Ukraine allowed Germany to have the ball and only started pressing from the halfway line. From there, however, the German team lacked creative solutions to break through the deep defensive block and pose a real threat.

In the ninth minute, Ukraine struck: their goalkeeper scored with a low long-range shot from the halfway line to make it 0-1. Betz saw the ball late because several players blocked his view.

Germany remained lackluster in the second part of the first half as well: few ideas, little courage in one-on-one situations. It only got dangerous shortly before halftime. Hischem Metidji broke through twice with strong dribbling and played the ball across. On the first attempt, a Ukrainian cleared off the line; the second attempt went over the bar.

The score was 0-1 at halftime. After the break, little changed. Germany still couldn't find a way through. In the 28th minute, Ukraine made it 2-0. After a quick attack down the right, the ball was played sharply into the middle, where Serhii finished unmarked.

The next setback came in the 34th minute. Ukraine scored to make it 3-0 and sealed the game for good. Six minutes can be enough for a comeback in small-sided football, but on this evening, it never felt like things would get close again.

Ukraine's victory was well-deserved. Germany had a lot of possession but remained too harmless in the final third. The team urgently needs to make adjustments before the next match.

On Wednesday at 1:00 a.m. German time, the next game is against Spain. The Spaniards lost their first group match 1-2 against Colombia.

You can watch all the games live and for free at twitch.tv/kleinfeldfussball.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.