FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Orlando Gil knew Paraguay was a big loser against Germany. world cup Knockout round opener.
Hey, he himself was a little impressed.
However, the 26-year-old goalkeeper, making his first World Cup appearance, helped La Albirroja defeat German great Manuel Neuer on penalties. Sending the four-time World Cup champion home.
“It showed that we shouldn’t talk too soon,” Gil said after helping his 5-1 underdogs advance to the round of 16. “This proved that Paraguay are capable of achieving great things. That opportunity should have come sooner or later.”
Gil, a massive 6ft 6in who plays for Argentinian club San Lorenzo, helped Paraguay reach the knockout stages without conceding a goal, with a 1-0 win over Turkey and a 0-0 draw with Australia in the group games.
However, Gil, who conceded four goals to the United States in the group stage, will need to do even better against a powerful Germany team that held the ball for more than twice as long as Paraguay and attempted 21 shots on goal compared to Paraguay’s seven.
“It was like a horror movie. There were Germans everywhere,” Gill said. “I still can’t believe it.”
Supporting them was Neuer, who was making his fifth World Cup appearance, leading Germany to victory in 2014 (he finished third in the Ballon d’Or voting that year, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi), and led Bayern Munich to two Champions League titles and 13 Bundesliga titles.
“Neuer is a world-class goalkeeper,” Gill said. “I was in a shootout with him and he saved a penalty as well. I have nothing but respect for an idol like him.”
Gil made one mistake in regulation, allowing Kai Havertz to equalize in the 54th minute. Another German goal that could have been the deciding goal was called off 12 minutes into extra time after a video review determined that Waldemar Anton had interfered with Gil to clear the way for Jonathan Tarr to score.
And when it came to penalty kicks, Gill won the man of the match trophy.
Gil stopped Havertz’s first shootout attempt, throwing out his right arm and deflecting the ball, giving Paraguay the advantage. Paraguay converted their first three kicks to take a 3-2 lead, but Gil then made a save from Nick Woltemade.
In other words, Paraguay only needed to convert one of the last two kicks to win.
However, Antonino Sanabria sent the ball wide to the left and Neuer stopped Fabian Balbuena, sending the penalty shootout to sudden death. Tarr’s shot went over the crossbar and Jose Canale beat Neuer for the win.
“Now we’re going to calm down, calm down and analyze what we’ve achieved,” said Gill, whose next game is against France or Sweden in Philadelphia on Saturday. “We managed to hold on until the 120th minute and luck was on our side in the penalty shootout.”
Germany has been on a disappointing losing streak in the past two World Cups, losing in the group stage and once in the round of 32. Germany has not won a knockout game since the 2014 final.
“We talk about expectations. It’s been 2011 or 2012, but they didn’t come close to us,” said Germany national team coach Julian Nagelsmann. “That’s not enough for German football.”
Midfielder Nadiem Amiri said the team has good young players and there is reason to be optimistic about the future.
“But I think it’s the wrong decision to think about the future at this moment,” Amiri said. “I am very sad when I think about everyone’s feelings. The ending of the match was shocking. It is very difficult to find the right words at this moment.”
___
See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
