Kazakn: Germany head coach Joachim Loew while terming the upset loss against South Korea as ‘historic’ has said that he would take a couple of days to decide whether he will resign or not.
Talking to reporters after being ousted from the tournament, Loew, when asked whether he would resign said, “I haven’t thought about it. It’s too early to say whether I will stay on or go. I will talk with the German Football Federation (DFB), the players, my family before I take a call.” It should be mentioned here that Tuesday only, the DFB had given Loew a four-year contract extension to continue as head coach.
Loew did not mince words after the stunning loss and with it the ouster from the World Cup. “The loss against Korea is historic. Even though as head coach I take the entire blame for the loss, one should remember that in football scoring goals decides your fate. We did everything in the game against Korea, except score and as coach, I can’t enter the playing arena and hit goals,” Loew snapped back when asked if Germany had bid adieu because of his stubbornness. “We should have learnt from the loss against Mexico,” he added.
Meanwhile the internet turned cruel for German fans Thursday as online mockery swept the globe following the defending champions’ shock World Cup elimination.
“Don’t mention the VAR,” was a common refrain, while Brazilian media gleefully took their revenge for Brazil’s 1-7 humiliation by Germany at the last World Cup in 2014. “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…” read a tweet from ‘Fox Sports Brasil’ that ran to 272 characters.
“Germany’s fastest exit from Russia since 1943,” posted one user, while another tweeted a picture of Germany towels reserving all the seats on an empty plane.
There was delight in Mexico too as Ryanair tweeted a picture of an unhappy Germany fan, offering ‘Loew fares’ – an obvious reference to Loew. One joke in German showed a supermarket check-out assistant asking Loew, “Do you collect points?” with the coach answering, “No.”
The global media also had a lot to say. While some said Germany were ‘over and out’ there were others who called the exit as the ‘curse of champions luck’.
The ‘Metro’ in London its front page wrote ‘Out Wiedersehen’ while in the back the heading was ‘From champs to Chumps’.
Dutch paper ‘AD Sportwereld’ featured a photo of Germany’s players with their hands on their heads at the final whistle against South Korea.
‘Over and Out! (already)’, it said, comparing the scenes to 2014 with a picture of the team’s celebrations at the last World Cup.