Germany vs Sweden Review

Germany 2-1 Sweden 

A last gasp Toni Kroos thunderbolt spared German blushes, and crushed Swedish hearts. 

10 man Germany revived their World Cup hopes after Toni Kroos scored in the last minute of the game. 

Ola Toivonen's well executed first-half lob had left Joachim Low's side facing elimination but Marco Reus, starting in place of Arsenal's Mesut Ozil, prodded in an equaliser as Germany  controlled the game after the interval.

The holders then had Jerome Boateng sent off late on for a second yellow card, which heaped even more pressure on the World Champions, who continued to chase the game knowing that a draw left their fate in others' hands. 

They were rewarded in the final minute of five added on when Kroos and Reus performed a well worked freekick routine, with Real Madrid star Kroos, tapping a free-kick short to Reus before sweeping the return pass into the top right corner from left of the penalty area.

The imortance and sheer brilliance of the goal saw the ecstatic German players run to rejoice in front of their own travelling fans while the Sweden players slumped to the floor, some close to tears, suffering the heartbreak of last minute defeat, and heroic status back home .

There were also angry exchanges in the technical area with Sweden's manager Janne Anderson, who was upset by the over excitement of the celebrations in front of him.

The result means all four teams in Group F can still qualify for the knockouts, with the outcome to be decided at venues 600 miles apart on Wednesday 27 June (15:00 BST) when Mexico face Sweden in Ekaterinburg and Germany play South Korea in Kazan. 

It seemed perfectly possible that Germany could lose back-to-back games at a finals for the first time since 1958, because of their dismal performance against Mexico, and unconvincing first 45 against Sweden, to become the fourth champions in the past five tournaments to exit at the first-round stage.