Germany lost an away World Cup qualifier for the first time in 91 years as they were beaten in Slovakia with Florian Wirtz and Nick Woltemade coming under fire for their effort
Germany lost an away World Cup qualifier for the first time in 91 years as they were beaten in Slovakia – with defeat potentially costing them at the major tournament should they make it.
The Germans were expected to secure a routine win over their European opponents, who are ranked 52nd in the world. However goals in either half cost them in Slovakia to end their impressive record than had spanned for almost a century.
It was only the fourth World Cup qualifier Germany have ever lost and boss Julian Nagelsmann gave a scathing review following the reverse. He accused them of lacking effort and claimed their performance was “pretty grim”.
Germany were beaten in the last eight at the last major tournament, which they played on home soil, and prior to that failed to make it out of the group stages of the World Cup with their aura not what it once was.
The ex-Bayern Munich boss said: “We did not show any emotionality in our game today. In terms of emotions, the opponents were miles ahead of us. We want to go to the World Cup, but today we were miles away from that.
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“The first five minutes of the second half were a bit brighter, but the rest was pretty grim. I trust my team, but they have to understand that simply being a better player than the opponent is not enough if you don’t show willingness and desire. You won’t get results with the handbrake on.”
Among those to feature for Germany in Bratislava were Liverpool new boy Florian Wirtz, Newcastle’s record-signing Nick Woltemade and Real Madrid centre-half Antonio Rudiger. Their places now appear in jeopardy though with Nagelsmann claiming he won’t be looking at quality anymore, instead wanting more desire.
He said: “We picked the best players in Germany, but maybe we have to put less importance on quality and more on players who will give it all out there.”
Defeat in Slovakia could potentially cost Germany a place in Pot 1 at the World Cup, should they qualify, with Nagelsmann’s side falling outside of the top nine in the FIFA world rankings.
Their next assignment will see them return to home soil where they play Northern Ireland in Cologne. They are in a qualification group with them, Slovakia and Luxembourg with the Germans heavily tipped to top the group.
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