Thomas Müller is one of the most successful and popular footballers in German history. And maybe he's saying goodbye to the big stage - with the second World Cup embarrassment in a row. In the ARD, the Bayern veteran is extremely emotional.
After the early failure at the World Cup in Qatar, Thomas Müller is apparently about to end his career in the German national soccer team. "It's an absolute catastrophe for me," said the 2014 world champion on ARD and added: "If that was my last game," he already wanted to thank the German supporters. He ended his words, addressed directly to the television viewers, with the sentence: "I did it with love, I have to see everything else first."
Müller had surprisingly been given a place in the center of the attack against Costa Rica. Hansi Flick again did without Niclas Füllkrug, who many experts and fans would have liked to have had in the starting XI. And Müller only paid back the trust of national coach Hansi Flick to a limited extent. As in the whole tournament, he was unable to bring his qualities to the pitch and was only convincing in his role as a driver.
Four years after the historic preliminary round, German football is back on the ground. After Joachim Löw in Russia, successor Flick was also badly hit at the World Cup in Qatar. The poor 4:2 (1:0) in the last group game against the limited Costa Rica after late joker goals by Kai Havertz (73rd/85th minute) and Niclas Füllkrug (89th) was not enough for the on Thursday in Al Chaur Entry into the knockout round. Japan's surprising 2-1 victory against Spain tore the DFB selection from all round of 16 hopes. "It's an absolute catastrophe," said Müller. "It's incredibly bitter for us, because our result would have been enough. It's a feeling of powerlessness." All subsequent calculations are "sound and smoke".
After another unsuccessful preliminary round, the disgraced German players who came here with dreams of the title fly back to Germany, where restless Advent days with critical questions about the future await the DFB, national coach Flick and national team director Oliver Bierhoff.
