[ti:Germany, Brazil Struggle in Opening World Cup Matches]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.12]Germany and Brazil joined the list of top teams
[00:04.76]struggling to win their opening matches
[00:07.68]at the 2018 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament in Russia.
[00:13.07]Defending World Cup champion Germany suffered a 1-0 loss to Mexico on Sunday.
[00:21.76]Just a few hours later, Brazil was held to a 1-1 draw by Switzerland.
[00:29.93]In addition, top-ranked Argentina tied 1-1 with Iceland on Saturday.
[00:38.12]And Spain and Portugal played to a 3-3 draw on Friday.
[00:45.00]Sunday's Germany-Mexico game was historic:
[00:49.12]It was the first time Germany has been defeated
[00:53.19]in a World Cup opening match in 36 years.
[00:57.82]The four-time winners have reached at least the semi-finals
[01:02.76]at every World Cup since 2002.
[01:07.48]This year, Germany entered the World Cup as one of the favorites to win the tournament.
[01:14.68]But if they are to do so, Germany cannot lose or tie
[01:19.48]when they play Sweden and South Korea in their remaining group games.
[01:26.56]Also on Sunday, Brazil failed to win their opening match against Switzerland.
[01:33.48]The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
[01:37.48]Brazil is second in the most recent FIFA World Rankings.
[01:42.72]The team had been ready to begin this year's World Cup with a win
[01:46.92]after its exit in the last World Cup in 2014.
[01:51.88]That year, Brazil lost 7-1 to Germany in the semifinals.
[01:58.52]Then they were defeated 3-0 against the Netherlands in the match for third place.
[02:06.48]The Brazilian team coach, who is commonly known only as Tite,
[02:11.08]spoke to reporters about Sunday's game against Switzerland.
[02:16.76]He said he would not make excuses for the poor result.
[02:21.56]"There was a lot of pressure and anxiety on the players
[02:25.32]and that translated into the finishes that were not precise.
[02:29.76]We had 20 finishes but we should have made the goalkeeper work harder," he said.
[02:36.57]Swiss coach Vladimir Petkovic also spoke about the game.
[02:43.52]He said he was proud of his team's performance.
[02:48.12]He added, "The first 40 minutes were tough for us,
[02:52.60]and at halftime I told the players to stay cool and press forward.
[02:58.24]They did, and it worked."
[03:01.68]Germany will next play on June 23 against Sweden.
[03:07.32]Their final group game will be June 27 against South Korea.
[03:13.80]Brazil will play against Costa Rica on Friday.
[03:18.48]Their final group game will also be June 27 against Serbia.
[03:25.04]I'm Jonathan Evans.
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