All refer to a free-kick Germany took during its 2-1 Round of 16 win against the African nation in Porto Alegre at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
You might remember it: Muller, Toni Kroos and Bastien Schweinsteiger gather around the ball on the edge of the box, Schweinstieger makes a dummy run to the right. Muller falls over and Kroos lobs it into the Algeria wall. It seemed for all the world an epic fail.
But footage has emerged from Germany training of the same routine actually working, and it’s easy to see why. Watch it here.
The failure against Algeria was not Muller’s, but Kroos’s. Had he managed to lob the ball over the wall, Muller had gathered himself, run clear and was there waiting to collect the ball and potentially score. You can see the frustration his face at the fact that it didn’t come off.
Of course it’s not the first bizarre free-kick routine to have been attempted, as this little montage demonstrates.
Guaranteed, had Germany’s effort come off, it would be talked about as one of the great World Cup moments. The team, of course, went on to win the Algeria match 2-1 and the whole tournament.
