TV pundits criticize Germany after another early World Cup exit

German TV pundits have sharply criticized the Germany national team following a third early World Cup elimination in a row.

Germany lost 4-3 on penalties to Paraguay on Monday after a dour 1-1 draw in the last 32.

“You can’t let the game against Paraguay go into extra-time. We’ll see on Saturday (in the last 16) just how good – or bad – Paraguay really are. We let them play that way and in the end, we’re complaining about a refereeing decision. That should never happen,” 2014 world champion Christopher Kramer said on ZDF.

He was referring to the controversial decision to rule out Jonathan Tah‘s header in extra-time for minimal contact between Waldemar Anton and Paraguay keeper Orlando Gill.

Gill went down during the corner but was on the way back up again as the powerful header flew in.

MagentaTV expert Mats Hummels called for personnel changes.

“This cries out for consequences. People are still trying to sugarcoat the European Championship (in 2024 when Germany reached the quarter-finals).

“That’s why this has to be addressed, both by the national team coach himself and by the federation, I believe. As for the players: I can certainly imagine that some of them will retire,” said the 2014 World Cup winner.

Former Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp added: “We had moments where we played well, but they didn’t last long enough. We didn’t create enough chances because we didn’t do a few things right.

“Right now, there was only one goal, only one dream, and that’s now gone.”

Per Mertesacker, another player who was part of the 2014 world champion squad, made things very clear for those watching the game.

“For those who still haven’t gotten it: We played against the weakest team from the group stage and couldn’t manage to create more than two chances in 120 minutes,” he said on ZDF.

“Two years ago, people joked that we only had to wait two years to become world champions. We can totally forget about that. We’ll have to work hard again.”

While Germany advanced to the round of 32 as Group E winners, Paraguay qualified as the seventh of the eight best third-placed teams.