Kai Havertz has said Germany are ‘not a tournament team anymore’ after they were eliminated from the World Cup at the group stage for a second successive tournament.
Despite beating Costa Rica 4-2 on Thursday evening, Die Nationalelf were knocked out after Japan produced an improbable win against Spain.
Speaking post-match, Havertz – who came off the bench to score a late brace for Germany – discussed how he and his teammates found out about the result from the other match and just how it feels to have fallen well short of expectations once again.
“When it happens this way, it feels like watching like a horror movie,” Havertz admitted. “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 added: “When you go out twice in the first round and once in the round of 16 [at Euro 2020], it’s extremely bitter.
“We have to be honest and say that for four years, everything hasn’t been going well. Now we’ve been knocked out twice in the group stage. I don’t think we’re a tournament team anymore.”
Source: 90min.com