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Joachim Loew talks up Mesut Ozil's importance

25 June 2018 - 23:50

Germany head coach Joachim Loew has stressed that Mesut Ozil still has a key role to play at the World Cup despite being dropped to the bench for the comeback win over Sweden.

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Following the game, Loew admitted that Germany have plenty of competition within the ranks, though they would still require the creativity of Ozil during the tournament, he said: "We have strong competition with us in the squad. We will still need his creativity in the tournament."

In Ozil's absence, Germany found themselves in a bit of a heap after they went 1-0 down to Sweden at the break. Following the interval, Marco Reus scored the equalising goal for the reigning champions but they had to wait until the 95th minute of the game for Toni Kroos to net a dramatic winner via a free-kick.

With the victory, Germany have their fate very much in their own hands and they need to secure a win over South Korea in the final group stage game to ensure their progress into the round of 16.

Written by Sri Aswin