Chelsea forward Kai Havertz said his country Germany crashing out of the World Cup is like a scene from a horror movie. Though Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 in their last group game, the result wasn’t good enough to sail them into the round of 16. Japan beating Spain 2-1 made their exit certain. Germany’s demise represents their second consecutive World Cup group stage exit, while they also underperformed at last summer’s Euros when they crashed out against England in the round of the last 16. ‘When it happens this way, it feels like watching a horror movie,’ said Havertz. `We learned during the match that Japan were leading, and then the rankings were displayed in the stadium. We still had a little hope that Spain would score. ‘But then we noticed that the Japan match was over.’
Havertz blamed the team’s performance against Japan for their elimination and hinted that all was not well in German football. Back in Germany, there was little debate about Japan’s last goal against Spain. TV cameras appeared to show the ball rolling out of play before Kaoru Mitomo’s crossed assist for Ao Tanaka to bundle the ball into the net. The media rather descended on their team. Die Welt said: “Germany is no longer a tournament team. It will take fundamental change to get out of this rut.” And FAZ added: “Things have been going downhill since winning the 2014 World Cup. The return to the top of the world is just an illusion for the DFB team.”
