Germany made their earliest World Cup exit in 80 years. © AFP / Jewel SAMAD
MOSCOW, Russian Federation, Jun 28 – The internet turned cruel for Germany fans on Thursday as online mockery swept the globe following the defending champions’ shock World Cup elimination.
A stream of memes and jokes flooded social media after a stunning 2-0 defeat to South Korea condemned Die Mannschaft to their earliest exit in 80 years.
“Don’t mention the VAR,” was a common refrain, while Brazilian media gleefully took their revenge for Brazil’s 7-1 humiliation by Germany at the last World Cup in 2014.
“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…” read a tweet from Fox Sports Brasil that ran to 272 characters.
In dramatic scenes in Kazan, Kim Young-gwon’s stoppage-time opener was ruled legitimate after intervention from the Video Assistant Referee, before Son Heung-min added the second goal minutes later.
“Germany’s fastest exit from Russia since 1943,” posted one user, while another tweeted a picture of Germany towels reserving all the seats on an empty plane.
Mexico fans were particularly delighted after South Korea’s last-gasp win allowed them to qualify for the last 16 behind Group F winners Sweden — while Germany finished rock bottom.
Aeromexico offered a 20 percent discount on flights to South Korea, tweeting an image of a plane with doctored “AeroCorea” livery and the slogan, “We love you Korea!”
Ryanair tweeted a picture of an unhappy Germany fan, offering “Loew fares” — a reference to German coach Joachim Loew.
One joke in German showed a supermarket check-out assistant asking Loew, “Do you collect points?” with the coach answering, “No.”
Meanwhile, England striker-turned-TV-presenter Gary Lineker revised his famous maxim that “Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.”
“Football is a simple game,” Lineker tweeted.
“Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans no longer always win. Previous version is confined to history.”
