The retired Germany international blasted Die Mannschaft for their elimination from the World Cup after a 2-0 loss to South Korea
Dietmar Hamann believes Germany bordered on embarrassment with how the final few moments of their shock 2-0 defeat to South Korea that sealed their elimination from the 2018 World Cup unfolded.
Germany entered their final game of Group F knowing a victory over then-bottom placed South Korea would likely see them through to the knockout stage, despite struggles at time during their first two games.
However, Germany found themselves unable to break through against the resilient Koreans and squandered numerous chances.
Ultimately a goal from Kim Young-Gwon, restored by VAR after initially being ruled out, put South Korea in front late.
Then with Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer up in the attacking half as Germany searched for a goal, a long ball from the Korean half allowed Son Heung-Min to run onto it and score an empty net goal to confirm Germany’s elimination from the tournament and bottom finish in Group F.
And former Germany international Hamann thought that moment in particular was near-embarrassing and a sign of a squad that had lost their way.
“Towards the end, with that [Manuel] Neuer incident, it bordered on embarrassment, because this is not how German football has been represented over the last four or five decades,” Hamann told RTE. “I got knocked out in the European Championship group stages [in 2004], but you’ve got to conduct yourself in a certain way and they didn’t do that.
“For me, that’s the disappointing thing. They lost leadership, they lack players they can really rely on when the chips are down and that’s on the pitch.”
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The result represents the first time Germany will not be in the knockout stages of the World Cup since 1950, when they were banned from participation in the aftermath of World War Two.
It is also the first time Germany will not make a knockout stage in a tournament since the 2004 Euros, and Hamann expects there to be plenty of criticism and potentially tough decisions ahead for Die Mannschaft.
“They will face huge criticism. The team manager Oliver Bierhoff didn’t really handle the Erdogan thing before the tournament well,” Hamann added. “The manager [Joachim Low] extended his contract before the tournament for another two years – so he has four years left. It will be very interesting what the thoughts of the DFB are.
“So there are a lot of questions. Last year we thought we were unbeatable for the next decade after winning the Confederations Cup and within 12 months we’re back down to earth.”