Germans disappointed after national team crashes out of World Cup

BERLIN

On the streets of Berlin, many Germans voiced surprise and disgust at the national team’s unexpected exit from World Cup competition in Qatar.

German media also blasted the humiliating exit for one of the most successful countries in the history of the tournament.

On Thursday, Germany comfortably beat Costa Rica by four goals to two, but a surprise win by Japan over favorites Spain saw the Germans in third place and effectively out of the running.

One man told Anadolu Agency that the national team’s involvement in political debates prevented them from focusing on the matches.

“The debate about (rainbow) armbands was nonsense. One can’t concentrate on playing football like this,” he said.

Before the start of Wednesday’s match with Japan, the German team took a group photo with their hands over their mouths to protest the ban on wearing rainbow armbands, meant to show support for the LGBTQ cause.

Host country Qatar criminalizes LGBTQ actions and activism.

Poor play, coach faulted

Another football fan said the German national team played badly during the tournament, and focused too much on political debates.

“They didn’t play that well. And they didn’t really focus on football. They were just like wanting to show that they aren’t happy with what’s going in Qatar. And that’s why they didn’t give everything (to the match) I guess. They could have done better,” he said.

Others were also critical of the way the team played.

"Our defense was miserable. They were fighting like tigers in the offense, but they were very bad in the defense,” said football fan Josef.

“It’s weird that when they come under immense pressure, during the match against Costa Rica, they managed to play well, managed to score four goals … had wonderful passes, like a miracle,” he added.

Tosen, a Berlin resident, blamed national team coach Hansi Fllck for the failure.

"Our team was bad. Because the coach picked the wrong players for the team. He didn’t look for alternatives, he didn’t dare to do it. After all, it’s not surprising that we couldn’t win the match against Japan,” he said.

Gentrit, another disappointed football fan, said the German national team got what they deserved.

"In fact we have good players, but we didn’t play well. We have good talents, but the team as a whole, didn’t perform well enough,” he said.