FIFA World Cup 2022: Three reasons Germany crashed out early in the tournament

Germany's 2018 World Cup blues have taken a fresh new injury as they were ousted from this year's World Cup as well, yet again from the group stages. Germany, the four-time champions lost their first match against Japan, drew against Spain and won against Costa Rica, but were knocked out due to an inferior goal difference.

MyKhel took the time to digest this catastrophe an dissected the reasons why the Germans again went home early. Here are those-

1. Poor second half against Japan:

That second 45 minutes in their first match of the tournament ended up becoming the defining moment of their World Cup exit. Germany were leading 1-0 at the break against Japan, but in the second half, they came out a different outfit. They were lacklustre, not showing enough intent and were a bit too clumsy. Japan scored twice in quick successions to get a historic win and that sunk the Germans. And that loss of points has come back to bite them finally.

2. Lack of clinical edge:

Germany have been poor in front of goal as well. Their expected goals tally was more than 3 in the match against Japan, when they managed to score only one goal. They missed chances galore in the match which hurt them badly. Also in the match against Spain, there were ample chances created by the Germans to win, but they had to settle with a point only. With the likes of Serge Gnabry, Thomas Muller and others, Germany would have been expecting a lot more clinical approach in front of goal, which hasn't happened in the tournament. And that has played a big part in their exit, without a doubt.

3. The defensive fragility:

How can this be defined? Germans have historically never been a defensive side, but coming to this tournament with Niklas Sule and Antonio Rudiger at the heart of their defense, they would have expected better. Germany have conceded 5 goals in 3 group matches, which is not a good record at all. The way their defenders gave away balls cheaply, failed to mark players and got turned over - was an alarming sight and that reflected in the group table. In the Japan match, Takuma Asano was found with a long ball and despite being a short-statured player, he found it so easy against Nico Schlotterbeck in a duel and scored. Perhaps the only player who was standout in the defense was David Raum at the left-back position. Antonio Rudiger was decent but his leadership was not enough to give Germany a berth for the knockouts.