Football singularity

Chapter 830: Chapter 830 AI

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[28-06-2021 | Arena Națională, Bucharest | 21: 07 EET]

Kroos swung his right foot but didn’t hit it; his movement faked out Freuler into lunging in. In stylish fashion, instead of taking him on, he chopped the ball behind his foot and squared it to the top of the D. The pass zipped cleanly under the lunging foot of that Xhaka, leaving him to turn to make the stop desperately.

Rakim got on the end of the ball, and he was dangerously unmarked, having lost all his markers. He had managed to slip under the radar as he slipped into the middle channel as Müller reached the byline. Xhaka moved to block his path, but the youngster dropped his left shoulder, looking to cut across the Swissman.

The Swiss Midfielder dug in his studs, trying to stop his momentum and go back across. It was then that Rakim’s shoulder came up as his right foot flashed around the ball in a stepover, leaving his marker flat-footed. In desperation, he tried to lunge forward, looking to make the stop after seeing Freuler moving in to support.

As if waiting for this, the right foot that had flashed over the ball in a stepover powerfully tapped the ball behind his left foot. In that same movement, he shuffled across in time to avoid a collision with Freuler. His left foot wrapped around the ball in an improvised La Croqueta and flicked it behind the man.

The ball slipped into the seam between Rodríguez and Akanji with surgical precision, leaving both Swiss centre-backs rooted. Akanji tried to lift his foot, but barely managed a twitch as the ball slipped past him, finding a white shirt.

As Rakim drew in the defenders with his dance at the top of the box, Werner didn’t miss the opportunity to make the run. The Chelsea forward had timed his run to the exact half-second, staying onside by the width of a boot, his left shoulder ahead of Akanji’s the moment the ball left Rakim’s foot. He did not break stride as he stretched out his foot to collect the ball that rolled into the space in front of him like it had been rehearsed a hundred times on the training ground.

Eight yards inside the box with acres of green in front of the goal, and Sommer’s was still on his line. This was a striker’s dream, and Werner did not hesitate. His first touch steadied the ball onto his stronger right, opened his hips, and drilled it low across the keeper’s body to the far corner.

Sommer dropped low, his foot stretching out, trying to somehow reach the ball. He didn’t even manage to graze it when the back of his net rattled, sending the Germans into pandemonium.

"Timo Werner!!!" Tyler roared, his voice crackling through the broadcast as the Germans sprinted to celebrate. "GERMANY IS LEVEL! WHAT A GOAL! WHAT A GOAL!"

"Alan, I have watched football for forty years, and I do not know if I have seen a boy do to Granit Xhaka what Rex just did to Granit Xhaka!" Smith exclaimed, half-laughing. "If I ever had to pick out a player operating with AI, my bet is on him; he is far too comfortable under pressure."

"Higher frequency or not, they are back in this game," Tyler commented before spotting some movement on the bench. "And it looks like both coaches will be making some changes."

[Germany 2-2 Switzerland — Werner 65’]

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Swiss In -> Out

Mario Gavranović -> Xherdan Shaqiri

Kevin Mbabu -> Silvan Widmer

Christian Fassnacht -> Steven Zuber

Rubén Vargas -> Breel Embolo

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Germany In -> Out

Florian Wirtz -> Gosens

Jamal Musiala -> Müller

Emre Can -> Toni Kross

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"Both sides completed their pit stops, and they will be hoping to see some immediate output," Smith noted as the Swiss side kicked off for the third time tonight, two more times than they would have hoped for. "Looks like Joachim Löw decided to revert to his familiar pre-tournament shape of 3-4-2-1. Thoughts?"

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GK: Neuer

CB: Rüdiger, Hummels, RB: Kimmich

LWB: Wirtz CM: Musiala, Can, RWB: Goretzka

LAM: Rakim, RAM: Gnabry

ST: Werner

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"I can see why he would want a more aggressive stance to make use of their momentum." Tyler started but quickly turned cynical. "But in my mind, I’m asking why he would risk changing a shape that was finally working. I’m sure that Musiala, Wirtz, and Can would do just as well in the 4-2-3-1."

Almost as if to prove him right, the Germans who had just brought the ball across the half, looking for an attack, stumbled. Goretzka had just skipped by Vargas and sent a weighted pass inwards, looking for Can in the middle. The Dortmund midfielder found himself sandwiched in traffic, trying to snake by Gavranović and Freuler.

He managed to get by the first with a nifty Marseille turn but read his movement with surgical precision. The Atalanta midfielder slid in with force, clawing the ball from under the German’s boots. Can went crashing to the ground looking for a free kick, but referee Fernando Rapallini waved play on.

Not that the Swiss side waited for him to decide, as Xhaka bodied Musiala away from the loose ball and sent a raking ball into the run of Kevin Mbabu. The Swiss Wingback put boots to the ground, fighting past the rain as he exploded past Wirtz, racing to the ball’s landing spot.

With an outstretched lung more than a meter in the air, he trapped the ball with grace, coming down with it at the side of the box. Facing Wirtz, who had caught up, he faked a cutback which the Leverkusen wonderboy ignored, and they both exploded to the byline. Mbabu had a slight edge in speed, managing to get his cross off before the ball could go out for a goal kick, but Wirtz managed to clip the underside of the ball.

The ball that should have been flying in a curved trajectory took a wild hop, skipping over Rüdiger’s jump at the near post. It sailed straight into the six-yard box, where Gavranović had ghosted in behind Hummels while the veteran had turned his head to track Vargas peeling off the far post. The Swiss substitute did not need a second invitation.

He met the ball on the run, chest first, cushioning it down onto his right boot. He struck it on the turn with force before Kimmich could interfere, blasting the ball goalward. Neuer reacted instinctively, throwing himself to his right before the ball had left the striker’s boot.

The German captain did everything right but simply couldn’t reach it no matter how he stretched, but Lady Luck decided to blow him a kiss. "Gavranović!!! CLANG!! Oh, he’s struck the post." Martin Tyler’s roar resounded as the ball pinged out of play to the utter disbelief of the Swiss contingent. "Germans saved by the Woodwork."

"Oh my days, how did he miss?" Alan Smith lamented, voicing the despair of the boys in red. "They saw that in the back of the net."

The Swiss end held its head in disbelief, hands running through wet hair, looking for a higher force to blame. Gavranović stood with both palms on his knees for a moment, staring at the six-yard line, wondering if the woodwork had been moved by a centimetre. No matter how he thought about it, that was the most reasonable explanation for his miss.

"That is the moment that will come back to haunt them, Alan," Tyler said quietly. "If that goes in, Switzerland likely wins, and Germany has to chase for the final twenty minutes with legs that are already heavy. Instead, now the momentum belongs to whoever grabs it next."

"Löw will be telling his side exactly that on the touchline," Smith agreed.

The goal kick was taken quickly by Neuer, who rolled it out to Rüdiger, who wasted no time driving forward himself. The Chelsea defender carried it thirty yards up the pitch before slipping it into Can’s feet. The Dortmund midfielder had space this time and took two touches, drawing in Freuler, before rolling it wide to Wirtz on the left.

The eighteen-year-old, who had a rude awakening to his entry into the game, was now fully warm, looking to make an impact. He brought the ball up with pace, forcing Seferovito to chase back further than he would like. Not forcing a dribble, he sent a weighted ball forward into the feet of Rakim a couple of yards from the penalty area.

The moment he received the ball, Mbabu draped himself over him, practically trying to merge as he pushed into him. Rakim stayed upright through the contact, showing considerable strength as he looked to turn inwards, pulling Xhaka to close him down. But instead of moving to take him on his right foot, that had been moving toward the ball, flashed over it and reversed, hitting it towards the sideline into the feet of Wirtz.

"Rakim with the Cruyff into Wirtz’s overlap, and he has acres of green ahead of him. Can he make something happen?" Tyler excitedly narrated as Florian swept up the ball with speed, cutting in behind the area Mbabu vacated.

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TO BE CONTINUED...

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