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| Tens of thousands of German supporters who had gathered to view the game at the Brandenburg Gate stood stunned after the South Korea loss, some moved to tears |
German fans responded with shock and dismay after the national team suffered their first elimination in the first round of the World Cup for 80 years.
Top selling daily Bild splashed โOUT!โ across its website after the defending championsโ 2-0 defeat by South Korea, calling it a nightmare but adding โWe didnโt deserve any betterโ.
โThe biggest disgrace in German World Cup History. The 0:2 loss is the embarrassing end to a catastrophic group phase,โ it wrote on its website.
In West Berlin, along the swanky shopping avenue Kurfuerstendamm normally filled with cheering fans and honking cars, the mood was eerily silent. Glum-faced fans in Germany shirts moved slowly and quietly away from cafes and bars.
Tens of thousands of German supporters who had gathered to view the game at the Brandenburg Gate stood stunned after the South Korea loss, some moved to tears.
โIt didnโt go well from the start. The first game wasnโt great, the second game wasnโt great and we shouldnโt even talk about today,โ said Robert Koeschinger, one emotional fan.
โWe deserved to lose. Something definitely has to change now.โ
โThe team just didnโt even fight. It was a terrible game,โ said Janin Roethig with tears in her eyes.
Coach Joachim Loew told broadcaster ZDF it was too soon to answer a question about his future as the national trainer.
โIโm terribly disappointed,โ Loew said. โI need a few hours to digest it.โ
Die Welt newspaper dismissed the teamโs performance as โdisgraceful.โ โTame, lacking in ideas and passion โ the team deservedly lost against South Korea,โ it said.
โโThe miracle of Sochiโ was not repeated today,โ the German interior ministry tweeted. โOut in the group stage. The sports ministry is as sad as you all are.โ
Felix Kroos, brother of Germany midfielder Toni, tweeted, โThatโs sport. Heads high for all those who truly cheered on.โ
German comedian Jan Boehmermann offered hope for the future.
โChin up. In the next World Cup, Germany will form a joint European team with Italy, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Croatia and Spain, and will be world champion every time thereafter,โ he said on Twitter.
