This night brings us Belgium v Tunisia first up and you'd have to have made sure you took your toilet break early because 5 minutes in Belgium won a penalty and the distinctly Belgianly named Eden Hazard slotted it away. Not long after another typically named Belgian called Romelu Lukaku scored on a quick counter to make it 2-0 and it looked like Belgium might have a nice afternoon of target practice.
They got a fair bit of it as expected, but unexpected was that less then 2 minutes later the unmistakably Tunisian sounding Dylan Bronn headed in a goal for Tunisia to make it 2-1 inside 20 minutes. I guess it gave Belgium pause to think that perhaps it wasn't completely unwise to play a bit of defence every now and then. So defend they did against Tunisia's enthusiastic attempts at an equaliser and just to rub a bit of salt into the wound went 3-1 up just before halftime.
Some tenacious chasing and good ball control gave the Belgians a 4-1 lead with now Hazard and Lukaku having scored 2 each and Tunisian enthusiasm for the task at hand definitely waning. The Belgian Batshuayi made it 5-1 and the Belgians decided that was the end of it. Tunisia disagreed, scored another to make it 5-2, before the referee called a halt to the game decided long ago.
Next Mexico and South Korea met to decide if Germany's progression would be put in further jeopardy (though Germany at this stage are still masters of their destiny) or if hopes for top spot remain alive.
There's a certain air of workmanlike naivety about South Korea and while that is enough to beat most other Asian sides regularly at the World Cup that is sub-optimal. So it was for most of the opening 25 minutes or so that Mexico had the bulk of possession and South Korea defended, perhaps shakily, but successfully. That said the best opportunity for a goal was South Koreas with only a desperate defensive lunge stopping a goalbound shot and a near certain goal. So in some respects it was a shame that Mexico won a clear penalty for a defensive handball and despite the lanky Korean keepers attempts at delay and gamesmanship Carlos Vela held his nerve to score.
Mexico managed to extend the lead and realised that it's possible (should Sweden beat them and Germany win both their remaining games) that goal difference might play a big part in the final reckoning. So they were certainly open to the idea of scoring more but failed to do so... infact the Koreans scored an impressive long range goal to the hard working and long suffering Sun to end the game 2-1 to Mexico. Korea are not technically done, oddly enough. If Mexico and Germany both beat Sweden, then the Koreans could join Sweden and Germany on 3 points and it's down to goal difference. That last minute goal could still count for something.
So we move on to the Sweden Germany match to see whether Korea's hopes are still alive, and indeed Germany's. If Germany lose both they and Korea are out.
Sweden without Zlatan Ibrahimovic (again a very Swedish sounding name) are less good than with him. However they are still a solid side against whom an out of form German team would have trouble. The match began that made it look like Germany were completely over their hangover against Mexico. They reached triple digit in passes before Sweden got to double digits. They created chances and it pretty much looked like they would score a few... eventually.
So when Toni Kroos gave up the ball with a rare errant pass and Sweden found a tightly marked Ola Toivonen who looped the ball over the advancing Manuel Neuer to score an unlikely Swedish goal German fans got to find out what most other teams' fans experience fairly regularly. For the remaining 15 minutes of the half Sweden threatened, seriously, to extend that lead. It was like you were suddenly placed in some alternate reality where Germany were fallible, defensively weak and lacking in goalscoring punch.
Without any familiar reference points to cling onto you kind of worried for your sanity, the kind of moment where you might pull out your drivers licence and check to see if all the details there tally with what you know.
Early in the second half Germany scored an equalising goal so scrappy I wasn't at all sure it actually went in. It wasn't inspiring stuff but Marco Reus' fortunate thigh/knee deflection eluded the hard working Swedish keeper and deflated the Swedes. For a bit. Then they went right back to being utterly determined to not just draw, but win the game.
And they made a good fist of it.
The Germans were getting more remonstrative, agitated, exasperated and all the other things that you tend to do when it looks like you're relying on Mexico doing you a favour (they wouldn't) as well as pummelling the South Koreans.
Then in the midst of this Jerome Boateng (good German name there) was sent off for his second yellow card offence that left an already shaky German defence utterly flimsy and the clock slowly ticked down as crosses went unmet, posts were hit, and hands thrown in the air.
The 5 minutes of added time dwindled to 3, then 2, then 1, then Sweden conceded a foul on the edge of the box, almost at the goal line with a minute to go... seconds. In a set piece from the training ground Toni Kroos curled the free kick over the heads of the defenders, beyond the diving keepers reach and inside the far post in an exquisitely executed, utterly crucial and joyfully celebrated goal.
I was holding my son at the time and he's lucky I'm not an emotional man. I rubbed my eyes and blinked. Had Germany just done the same and awoken or will they return to the slumber that will see them exit the World Cup? Who knows.
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