The Germans are masters of penalties, especially at the World Cup. They won the last four shootouts before Paraguayan 6’6″ goalkeeper Orlando Gil beat them at their own game. Gil made two crucial saves in the tiebreaker to seal the historic South American victory.
The Netherlands, blessed with incredible attacking prowess and midfield wealth, are known to settle matters in open play. Morocco held them 1-1 for more than 120 minutes and then held their nerve to win 3-2 on penalties. The last kick of the game, a perfectly calculated strike to the goalkeeper’s right, was scored by a Moroccan who had learned the tricks of the trade in the country he had just sacked. Ismail Saibari plays for PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands.
Within hours, the two European giants, usually among the last to leave the World Cup, were on their flights home. The global football map was changing and so was the continental hierarchy.
There was no element of surprise in Morocco’s victory as they are ranked above the Netherlands. Germany’s exit was a major shock. Although overshadowed by their past, the four-time world champions faced a team that had not been in the competition since 2010 and the teams were separated by 22 places in the FIFA rankings.
Paraguay coach Gustafo Alfaro was reluctant to highlight the contradiction. “They are graduates from top academies. We come from red soil, playing barefoot on clay,” he said after this World Cup upset.
So the hero of the day for Paraguay, goalkeeper Gil, stood by the corner flag with arms outstretched as his teammates embraced him. Throughout the game, he had defied the Germans, looked up to the man holding the roof.
Two years ago, his wife put up an emotional post that not many read: “When Lauti (their son) was born, we had nothing. Orlando sold his old club clothes.” The tweet went unnoticed until he made a save against Turkey in the group game a few days ago. This post got a second life.
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When it mattered most, Gill stood up. Not once but twice. Two great saves to deny Kai Havertz and Nick Voltemade. The second save, in particular, was the kind that goalkeepers spend careers chasing and rarely get more than once. Two of the four German kicks were saved and the door opened.
Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gil was the hero of the penalty shootout in match 32 of the World Cup against Germany. (AP Photo)
Paraguay could have been no closer to the finish line when the timeless Manuel Neuer almost created a story of his own. The 40-year-old veteran, a World Cup winner in 2014, came up with a vintage save on the fifth Paraguayan attempt as the scores were level after five penalties each.
Jonathan Tah, who had already had a great header by VAR in extra time, stepped up at the end and could have been the hero of the night twice, but dropped the ball into the stands behind the goal. Jose Canale didn’t miss. Paraguay had beaten Germany in the World Cup and the victory belonged to Gill before anyone else.
Before the shootout, Paraguay sat deep, soaking up wave after wave of sterile German pressure, waiting for the one moment the game would offer. He countered in the 42nd minute. Neuer takes a corner kick, which he should have saved. Miguel Almiron, alive to the loose ball, went inside to Matias Galarza and then the ball passed to Julio Enciso, who was set up for a long-range strike. Enciso got to the near post to bury a cross with a header. Paraguay needed a moment of carelessness and Neuer gave it to them.
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Havertz answered in the 54th minute. The forward is not a natural header of the ball by his own admission, and yet his last five World Cup appearances have found a way to disagree with that. Florian Wirtz’s cross was spot on. Havertz let it come and turned behind Gill, who couldn’t do anything about it. The match was tied 1-1.
There was drama in extra time. In the 119th minute, Tah headed in a Nathaniel Brown corner, only to have the goal denied, Valdemar Anton fouling Gil in the build-up. The monitor was stuck in a technical area so narrow that the referee had to ask both benches to physically move so he could reach it.
It was a similar night, somewhere less than classic. Two headers, the only goal in two hours of open football, and a shootout needed to find the winner. The goalkeeper, who once sold his clothes to support his family, had his last day in the sun.
Germany are out, the first major casualty of the tournament, but they lost their aura long ago. The exodus was just a reflection of the rot in their once clockwork system. Paraguay are in the last 16 thanks to a goalkeeper that no one outside of Asuncion could have named a month ago.