Germany won their last Group stage match against Costa Rica by 4-2 on Thursday but most importantly they were knocked out of the ongoing FIFA World Cup after Japan stunned Spain by 2-1. This is the second consecutive time when the Germans have failed to qualify for the Round of 16 in the World Cup.
Germany was shocked by Japan in their opening match by 2-1 and then shared the spoils against Spain. However, their exit was nothing short of controversy.
Japan’s second goal against Spain came under the scanner as Kaoru Mitoma’s pass to Ao Tanaka appeared to have come after the ball had gone out of play. However, the goal was approved by VAR. If this goal had been disallowed, Germany would have made it to the knockout stage.
Germany’s head coach Hansi Flick admitted big changes will be made in the team’s squad for the 2024 Euro championship.
“In light of the Euros, it is difficult to talk about that right now, but we need to assess our World Cup, head into a different direction,” Flick said. “This is the next step we will take, and we will do it very soon.
“We can get up quickly and recover. We will see what the future looks like and how we can implement our ideas. I am a very critical person and we will assess everything.”
Muller, who has been a consistent performer for Germany over the years, feels it is an absolute catastrophe for the national team.
“It’s an absolute catastrophe,” Muller said. “It is unbelievably bitter for us because our result would have been enough [if Spain hadn’t lost to Japan]. It’s a feeling of powerlessness.
“If that was my last game for Germany, it has been a tremendous pleasure, thank you very much.”
Germany would have qualified if Spain had not been stunned by Japan but Flick admitted they had themselves to blame for their poor show.
“I don’t care about different teams, it’s all up to us,” Flick said. “If you look at the games and number of goals that were our fault, I am convinced that we gave away our chances against Spain and Japan.
“You have to take your chances and score goals. If we had, it would have been a different story. There were lots of individual mistakes in the games and it made me very angry. I told the team I was upset.
“But I am not looking for excuses. We fulfilled our duty today, we got the win, but the scoreline could have been better.”
Apart from Germany, Belgium was also knocked out after they could only manage a 0-0 draw against Croatia.
