World Cup 2018: Hummels questions Loew's tactics after Germany defeat

  • IndiaToday.in
  • Moscow
  • June 17, 2018
  • UPDATED: June 18, 2018 00:07 IST

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Germany lost 1-0 to Mexico in their World Cup opener
  • Hirving Lozano scored the only goal of the match
  • Hummels said Mexico deserved the win
2018 FIFA World Cup
Germany lost 1-0 to Mexico in their World Cup opener. (Reuters)

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Germany lost 1-0 to Mexico in their World Cup opener
  • Hirving Lozano scored the only goal of the match
  • Hummels said Mexico deserved the win

Germany's Mats Hummels was not surprised that Germany lost their 2018 FIFA World Cup opener 1-0 against Mexico on Sunday.

"Mexico deserved the win. Our cover was often not good and we were left many times with just Jerome (Boateng) and myself in the back," said centre back Hummels, one of several Germans who will not want to watch a replay of Hirving Lozano's 35th-minute goal.

"We were warned days ago (in the warm-up games). We played exactly like we did against Saudi Arabia (when Germany won 2-1) only against a better opponent. That's why the first half was like it was and Mexico obviously deserved to win it."

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Germany were exposed again and again by Mexico's counter-attacking, and if they had been more accurate with their final pass then they would not have had to endure the tense finale as the holders threw everything forward.

The defender also questioned coach Joachim Loew's tactics after the loss.

"If seven or eight players are attacking then it is clear that our attacking power is greater," said Hummels. "But that is something that I have often talked about internally. It does not always bear fruit."

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Meanwhile, Loew said there was no need for panic or radical change

"In the first half we played very badly. We were not able to impose our usual way of playing," Loew told a news conference.

"But we will not just break apart now and become headless and do something completely different. There is no need to break out in panic just because we have lost a match."

Toni Kroos recognised that Germany, the ultimate tournament team, were now facing an unusual situation. "We are now under pressure, we have to get six points from the next games," he said.

"We did not do it well. Overall we had our chances but did not score. We just lost the ball up front far too easily, and Mexico had always two or three people up front whom we failed to block efficiently."

(With Reuters inputs)

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