SOCHI, Russia -- The Germans had given up. Supporters, male and female, young and old, were sat high in the stands at the Fisht Stadium with their smudged red, black and yellow face paint, waiting for the final whistle to confirm that Joachim Low's world champions were on the brink of World Cup elimination.
Some had tears in their eyes. This doesn't happen to Germany; group-stage elimination at the World Cup has been something that happens only to other nations -- like England -- since they last suffered that ignominy in 1938.
But here they were, drawing with Sweden, knowing that such a result would throw up the prospect of the Swedes and Mexico playing out a mutually beneficial draw in Ekaterinburg on Wednesday to qualify for the round of 16 at the expense of Germany, regardless of their result against South Korea in Kazan.