Axel Witsel: Belgium wants U.S. or Ghana, not Germany
RIO DE JANEIRO – Germany coach Joachim Loew doesn’t think it’s important for his team to handpick its opponent for the round of 16. But Belgium certainly does.
Midfielder Axel Witsel feels the Belgians should avoid the Germans at all costs and try to engineer a matchup so they face another Group G side like the United States.
"We don't want to play against Germany now,” Witsel said after Belgium’s 1-0 win over Russia on Saturday. "It's a really good team and they have really good players. So it's better, I think, [to play] Ghana or USA.”
On Wednesday, Loew said any attempt to avoid Belgium in the knockout stage was futile.
"It doesn't matter,” said Lowe, who dismissed talk of a U.S.-Germany agreement to purposely play to a draw. "We will have to beat all teams [to win the championship] eventually."
Belgium is sitting pretty at the top of Group H with six points and, barring a meltdown against South Korea and an Algeria win over Russia, it'll face the second-place team from Group G in the round of 16.
A tie in Thursday's group finale between Germany and the U.S. in Recife would keep the teams level with five points each. The Germans would finish atop Group G due to superior goal differential. With a Germany win, of course, the U.S. could fall out of the round of 16 field depending on the result of the Portugal-Ghana match in Brasilia.
If the U.S. wins, however, the Germans would likely land in that second-place spot and have a date with Belgium in Salvador on July 1.
That's a scenario the Belgium team isn't too keen on – and rightfully so. The Red Devils haven't beaten their border brothers since 1954. (In fact, Belgium has only beaten Germany once in the past 100 years, so you can understand if it has a little inferiority complex.)
"I think this World Cup, we see that every team is very strong," said Belgium defender Toby Alderweireld. "[But] Germany is a very, very good opponent, so I think we want to avoid them."
As for the Americans, playing to a draw with the Germans on Thursday may be "mutually beneficial", but would they rather face Belgium in the round of 16 or the winner of Algeria-Russia?
"We want to go at Germany and get three points," said Jurgen Klinsmann, "and be in the driver's seat for the round of 16."
Doesn't everybody?
