Germany will be hoping to secure a place in the FIFA Confederations Cup Semi-finals when they take on Cameroon in Sochi on Sunday. With four points already, Die Mannschaff are the favorites to make it through to the knockout stages by coming out on top in this encounter.
Anything short of at least a three-goal win margin for Cameroon would make the top two spot almost impossible to achieve. With only one point so far, they need to put on a commanding display if they want to have any hopes for qualification. The game will be played at the Fisht Stadium which can hold 40,000 people.
Germany
Although there were many doubts and fear that Joachim’s Low weakened squad would undermine this competition, the players have shocked expectations by playing quality football and providing entertainment.
They opened their accounts by defeating Australia by 3 goals to 2 in their opening match. In their second game against Chile, one they were tipped as slight underdogs, Germany fought back from a goal down, after Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez had scored from an error made by his fellow Gunners teammate, Shkodran Mustafi, to earn a point against Chile. The goal was scored by Borussia M’gladbach’s, Lars Stindl. They now face a Cameroon side that is under a lot of pressure to win if they want to qualify. Germany remains the favorites for this match and with the way they have played as a team, they are fast becoming my favorites to win this competition.
Key Players: Lars Stindl, Julian Draxler
Following the second match against Chile, Joachim Low heaped praise on Lars Stindl for his excellent performance. The Borussia Monchengladbach player’s equalizer cancelled out Alexis Sanchez’s opener. That goal was his second goal of this tournament. He will be looking to add more to his tally against a weakened Cameroon defence.
The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder has been having a great competition so far. He controls the midfield and distributes passes around the field. With one goal to his name so far, he will be hoping to find the back of the net in this match.
Expected Line-ups
Joachim Low did not make any substitutions in his last match against Chile. So plenty changes to the starting line-up can be expected. He has started two different keepers in the first two matches, so it’s most likely that the third keeper, PSG’s Kevin Trapp will start in goal. Captain Julian Draxler, Lars Stindl, Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi and Joshua Kimmich can all be expected to start as well. Germany should deploy a 3-4-3 formation.
Cameroon
Cameroon has not had a good competition so far. They lost to Chile in their first match by two goals to nil. They tried as much as they could to hold Chile, but when Alexis Sanchez was introduced into the match, the Cameroonians couldn’t contain him.
They were the much better side in their second game against Australia. They had a lot of squandered chances, mostly by star striker Vincent Aboubakar, which meant they had to settle for a 1-1 draw. They needed a win in that match if they were to have any hopes for amqualification. All hope is not lost though, but they need a huge margin win against Germany if they want a top two spot.
Key Player: Vincent Aboubakar
If Cameroon hopes to advance to the semi-finals, they will be counting on that their star striker can convert his chances into goals, and find the back of the net at least two times.
Expected Line-ups
Their best game of this competition was against Australia, so we can expect Hugo Broos to field and unchanged starting eleven with a 4-3-3 formation.
Head-to-Head: Germany vs Cameroon
Germany has never lost a game to Cameroon (winning two with 1 draw). And, their last game was an international friendly in 2014. A game where none of the current German squad was involved in and it ended 2-2. Germany’s last win was in November 2004 when they won by three goals to nil.
Predictions
Germany is the far better side and nothing short of a win is expected. Even though they have the same amount of points as Chile, Chile tops the group by goal difference. So Germany will want to score a lot of goals to boost their chances of topping the group.
FIFA Confederations Cup: Germany vs Cameroon | Ecency
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