Germany’s national newspaper has an explanation for their teams’ shocking early exit from the World Cup: the players’ wives and girlfriends.
Bild, the country’s paper of record, asked “What’s wrong with our Wags?” after Germany was eliminated from the World Cup at the Group Stage. Their significant others, according to Bild, didn’t enjoy themselves enough in Qatar, the NY Post reports.
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The German wives and girlfriends, they claimed, had much less fun than the partners of England and Wales, who could “drink Qatar dry.”
“Not thirsty?” the paper asked. “Dancing leg allergy? Don’t feel like lunging?”
“Be happy that you too are now flying home with your football dwarves!” Bild concluded. “It can’t go on like this…”
The Germans were sent packing on Thursday after finishing third in Group E, despite their final game 4-2 victory over Costa Rica – with Japan and Spain advancing.
It’s the second straight World Cup the four-time champions have been eliminated during the group stage.
German soccer star Thomas Müller called their performance “an absolute catastrophe.”
Despite Germany winning 4-2 over Costa Rica on the final day of Group E play, Japan’s 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Spain eliminated the Germans.
“It is unbelievably bitter for us because our result would have been enough,” Mueller said.
“It’s a feeling of powerlessness.” Mueller was part of the 2014 World Cup-winning team and was also in the side that was eliminated at the same stage four years ago in Russia.
Head coach Hansi Flick said German football will “head into a different direction, and very soon.”
This comes just 18 months prior to Germany hosting Euro 2024, the second-biggest tournament for European countries. Flick, who didn’t discuss his future as Germany’s head coach said big changes will be made to make sure Germany is competitive in that tournament.
In Euro 2020, which was played in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Germany was eliminated by England in the Round of 16.
“In light of the Euros, it is difficult to talk about that right now, but we need to assess our World Cup, head into a different direction,” Flick said.
“This is the next step we will take, and we will do it very soon. We can get up quickly and recover. We will see what the future looks like and how we can implement our ideas. I am a very critical person and we will assess everything.”
This article originally appeared on the NY Post and was reproduced with permission.