Ilkay Gundogan admitted Germany breathed a huge sigh of relief after their “crazy” World Cup campaign.
Germany substitute Niclas Fullkrug fired a late equaliser to save his nation’s hopes and take their campaign to the final group match against Costa Rica. The four-time winners were trailing to Alvaro Morata’s opener until Werder Bremen striker Fullkrug, 29 - a journeyman striker who only got the call-up just before the tournament - smashed a dramatic leveller.
Manchester City midfielder Gundogan said: “We needed that. We could have scored earlier and had a couple of good chances before our goal. The result in the end against a very tough Spanish side is fair. Now it’s down to the last game.
“It’s crazy, the World Cup, you know it’s going to be dramatic. Ups and downs. The finish for our goal was unbelievable.”
Germany boss Hansi Flick added: “Niclas is a good boy, fights very hard and he gives us something extra. We are more than satisfied with the result.
“Maybe this will give us a boost. I’m very satisfied as the coach because we got the result we needed. We have the next game against Costa Rica and we want to create the conditions to reach the last 16.”
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Spain super-sub Morata, who put his side ahead, said: “It was a tough game. Germany have an amazing team and it was a really good game. It was two teams that could be a semi-final or final in a World Cup.
“It is the same coming off the bench as starting and the most important thing is to win. They scored an amazing goal and from tomorrow, we'll keep training and pushing and staying positive.”
