Oh Germany

[cashew]

I feel like Germany deserved a better result. Part of the problem is definitely attributable to Germany pulling out Gündoğan, who is easily Germany's best midfielder and it's clear the midfield got pretty dang confused after the sub. The other difficulty is that a lot of the Japanese players (up to 7 I think?) are playing in German leagues, which means they have a certain amount of experience dealing with German players.

I still maintain that Japan can't keep up the results and I don't think they can beat Spain, but their run might get pretty lucky because right now it feels like all the luck is on their side.

Honestly, I'm pretty torn right now. The two teams I want to win the most are unlikely to win, so I might end up cheering for Spain again, because at least they play in a way that's pleasing, unlike the likes of England and France. France will be unbearable if they win another World Cup. Ugh.