(ANSA-AFP) - BERLIN, DEC 2 - In a quickly-emptying east
Berlin bar, Eric Warncke is "disappointed" by Germany's shock
exit from the World Cup, but says he already suspected it might
happen. After a surprise 2-1 loss in the opening game to Japan,
the team left themselves a hill to climb to make it through to
the knockout round in Qatar. A tense 1-1 draw against Spain gave
them hope of qualification, but the Spaniards' own defeat at the
hands of the Japanese Thursday sealed the Germans' fate despite
a turbulent 4-2 win over Costa Rica. "Nobody expected Japan to
beat Spain, but in the end we were knocked out deservedly,"
Warncke, 27, says. To his mind, there are "too few characters,
too few leaders" in Hansi Flick's squad compared with the
previous sides. Germany used to pride itself on being a
"tournament team", which always had a chance of winning World
Cups. "Individually they are all good players, but it's not a
team," he says, lamenting the disappearance of Bastian
Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski, who lifted the trophy in
2014. Like him, his friend Rico Wagner, 23, summed up the
feeling: "Disappointed, but we also deserved it". - Viewing
figures - After a rollercoaster game in which Germany first
seemed to be going through, then did not and finally could not
do enough despite a late push, the fans in the bar showed their
frustration. Even before the TV commentator confirmed Japan's
win and Germany's exit, crying "this is a debacle, this is a
disaster," some fans grabbed their coats and headed for the
door. The full-time whistle, when it came, was met with angry
shouts.
Germany forward Thomas Mueller said his country's second
successive first-round exit from the World Cup was an "absolute
catastrophe", which team-mate Kai Havertz likened to "watching a
horror movie". The Germans beat Costa Rica 4-2 but Spain slumped
to a 2-1 defeat to Japan on Thursday that meant Germany finished
third in Group E behind Spain, with the teams equal on four
points and the positions decided only by goal difference. "It is
unbelievably bitter for us because our result would have been
enough," Mueller said. "It's a feeling of powerlessness."
(ANSA-AFP).
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