“We have to look at ourselves”

Germany need to look themselves in the mirror following their second successive World Cup group-stage exit, according to Kai Havertz.

Kai Havertz believes Germany only have themselves to blame for their disappointing group stage exit at the World Cup.
Speaking after tonight’s 4-2 win over Costa Rica, Havertz pointed to Germany’s 1-2 defeat against Japan as the game that “made the difference”.

“We have to look at ourselves,” Havertz said in a post-match interview.

“We had enough chances to win against Japan, enough chances to win against Spain. We had the game in our hands today and stille conceded two goals against Costa, which shouldn’t really be possible with the quality we have.

“We then turned the game around, which was good. But then you see the other result. With quality like that, we can’t afford to lose to Japan. The game against Japan made the difference.”

Havertz then went on to dismiss the suggestion that the German team were performed below par because they were distracted by the controversy surrounding FIFA’s ban of the OneLove armband.

“Performances on the pitch come first in a tournament like this. Of course, the top was on our minds. We made our position clear many times. But that’s the last thing we want to use as an excuse.”

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