Germany coach Joachim Loew admits his World Cup holders ‘played badly’ © AFP / Yuri CORTEZ
MOSCOW, Russian Federation, Jun 17 – Germany coach Joachim Loew admitted the reigning World Cup champions were made to pay for a poor first half as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat by Mexico on Sunday.
Hirving Lozano scored the only goal after 35 minutes in Moscow as Germany lost their opening game at a World Cup for the first time in 36 years.
“In the first half we played very badly,” Loew said. “We weren’t able to impose our usual way of playing, our attacking and passing was not effective.”
“In the second half we pressed more but Mexico dropped back,” he added.
“We had a couple of shots on goal but somehow it seemed jinxed, the ball wouldn’t go in and sometimes we didn’t keep our cool with our finishing.
“Tomorrow we have to look forward and put this behind us.”
Germany have never failed to advance beyond the group stage at a World Cup, but Loew’s side must regroup quickly ahead of their next game against Sweden on June 23 in Sochi.
“It’s disappointing to have lost the first match. It’s a situation we’re not used to at all. In many previous tournaments we’ve always won the first match but we have to accept it,” Loew said.
“There can always be obstacles to overcome and we need to draw conclusions and be much better in the next match.”
Germany had won their opening World Cup game at each of the previous seven editions, with their only prior loss in 18 appearances a 2-1 reverse against Algeria at the 1982 finals.
“The team has experience dealing with losses. It goes without saying that the next match will be decisive for us, we have to win it.”
“We will not change our gameplan. If we play out our ideas then we have players who are able to deliver,” Loew added.
“We need to focus on our strong points, which we haven’t been able to do in our last couple of games.”
