Defending Champions Germany, humiliatingly crashed out of the group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in its repeat attempt today, losing 2-nil to South Korea in Kazan on two stoppage time goals.
Repeating as World Cup champion is challenging, and hasn’t been done since Brazil’s victory in 1962. Three of the last four champions haven’t even advanced to the knockout rounds in the following tournament, let alone win again.
Germany was no more able to escape the grasp of history than Spain, Italy and France were before it.
It is the first time since 1938 that Germany has failed to advance from the first round of the World Cup. Its loss ensured Sweden and Mexico would represent Group F in the round of 16.
As it has been all tournament long, Germany was let down by its profligacy in front of goal, as the nation with world-class players like Mesut Ozil, Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller scored just two goals. Germany took twice as many shots as South Korea, just as it did in a loss to Mexico in its opener.
The later the game dragged on, the more desperate Germany became as it besieged South Korean keeper Jo Hyeon-Woo’s goal. Forward Muller and Mario Gomez came on for midfielders, and eventually a defender was pulled, too.
But Germany couldn’t bypass the 10 men South Korea planted behind the ball, resorting to hopeful crosses and speculative shots from outside the box.
For the first 70 minutes, Germany’s defense dealt capably with South Korea’s few attacks. But with most of the German midfield substituted off the field, South Korea found it increasingly easy to counter attack. After wasting a number of chances, South Korea earned a stoppage time corner kick.
On the corner in the third minute of stoppage time, the ball trickled through to Kim Young-Gwon at the far post, who calmly took a touch to gather the ball, and fired off Neuer’s foot and in. Kim was originally ruled offside, but a lengthy review by the video assistant referee awarded the goal.
Mexico fans in Yekaterinburg, learning about the goal from their phones as their team was down 3-0 Sweden, jubilantly jumped in the air, knowing a 1-0 German victory would have knocked them out.
Needing two goals at this point, Neuer, always eager to leave his goal and help in the attack, was practically playing as a midfielder. Three minutes later South Korea momentarily got ahold of the ball, and blasted it 75 yards toward the open net. Son Heung-Min, staying onside, was the furthest man forward, and rolled the ball in from a few yards out.
While the history was there for everybody to see, Germany was supposed to be different. As every other nation occasionally has a poor World Cup, or even fails to qualify, Germany is the machine that can always be counted on. It had won a medal at every World Cup since 2002, and every European championship since 2008.
But even with a dozen players considered among the best in the world at their positions, Germany was unable to advance from a group that didn’t look particularly difficult two weeks ago. The search for an answer to the question of why will take longer.
After three World Cups for the generation of Neuer, Kroos, Muller, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira and Jerome Boateng, 2022 will likely see a new wave of players lead Die Mannschaft.