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We saw one of the shocks of the Qatar World Cup so far yesterday as Germany crashed out at the group stage with Japan and Spain advancing out of group E. Whilst German fans and pundits bemoaned their nations failure, others around the world relished seeing the usually reliable German’s crash and burn. Top of that list was probably ex-England skipper Alan Shearer.
How did Germany exit the World Cup?
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Hansi Flick’s men arrived in Qatar with a price of 11/1 (12.00) to win the World Cup whilst their odds to win their group were 11/10 (2.10); they were only that strong owing to the fact they were paired with Spain. In almost everyone’s eyes, it would be the two European superpowers that eased through to the knockout stages with Japan and Costa Rica purely making up the numbers. That is not how things played out.
Germany’s campaign got off to a bright start with Ilkay Gundogan giving them a lead over Japan in their opening game. Then Kai Havertz saw a strike ruled out on the brink of half time; it would prove a huge moment. In the second half, Japan came roaring back and two late goals saw them sink the Germans 2-1. Next up was the ‘big one’ as Germany and Spain done battle. The Spanish by this point were in control of the group having thrashed Costa Rica in their first game. Germany had to settle for a point with Niclas Fullkrug cancelling out Alvaro Morata’s opener.
That left it all on the line in a tense final round. During the third and final group matches each of the four teams were in the qualification spots at o e time or another – most excitedly when Japan and Costa Rica occupied the top two positions. By the full time whistle though, Japan had come from behind to beat Spain in a ‘lightning strikes twice’ type scenario after their win over Germany. That put Japan on top with Spain taking second spot ahead of Germany. Flick saw his men run out 4-2 winners over Costa Rica but their goal difference was five goals short of Spain’s.
A smidge of controversy – and a link to England Germany history
Now the dust has settled on Germany’s exit, Japan’s second goal against Spain, which eventually proved to be the winner, has widely been accepted as legit. That wasn’t the case as the action unfolded. During the build up to the goal, there were television angles that suggested the ball had gone out of play; these quickly circulated online. They caused quite the storm.
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) December 1, 2022
Those images also triggered plenty of historic moments between England and Germany. Many labelled it as karma for Germany avoiding conceding a goal when Frank Lampard’s strike at the World Cup in 2006, which was held in Germany. Whilst others were quick to reference Germany also being on the wrong end of a debateable call from the 1966 World Cup final, which, of course, England triumphantly won.
If Germany are pissed about the Japan goal show them Lampard's#karma #GERCRC #aufwiedersehen pic.twitter.com/L6ovJ53Npc
— Thoughts Of Em (@ThoughtsOfEm1) December 1, 2022
As touched on, the decision has widely been accepted now. That isn’t all of the story though. During the game, FIFA were incredibly slow to release conclusive angles of the incident that led to the second Japan goal hence images like that shown above from Gary Neville were allowed to generate media buzz and conspiracy theories. Only after the match was a more birds eye angle released. It isn’t a great look especially when leagues such as the English top flight has the VAR footage released almost at the same time the decision is being made.
Shearer pokes fun at Germany’s expense
Shearer, who most famously suffered at the hands of Germany during Euro 1996 as the Three Lions crashed out courtesy of Gareth Southgate’s penalty miss, wasted little time to stick a boot into the already floored old rival. The former Newcastle legend is a regular face on the Match of the Day Top 10 podcast alongside Gary Lineker and Micah Richards; it is a pod regularly descends into fits of laughter.
Well, Shearer quickly knocked together a snippet of those hysterics and took to social media alongside the caption ‘Germany are out of the FIFA World Cup in the Group Stage’. Clearly, Shearer was not alone in his joyous mood as his post has since racked up 80,000 likes – and counting!
Now all that remains is for Shearer’s beloved England, who have just dumped fellow British side Wales out of the tournament, not to bow out in pathetic fashion or else Germany will, once again, get the final laugh.
Germany are out of the #FIFAWorldCup in the group stage!! pic.twitter.com/h3bFEYn1Pw
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) December 1, 2022
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