Hansi Flick reacts to Germany’s ‘brutally’ disappointing loss to Japan

• Hansi Flick gives his thought on the ‘brutally’ disappointing of Germany’s defeat to Japan.

Germany head coach Hansi Flick has confessed that Germany’s 2-1 loss to Japan in their World Cup opening on Wednesday left him ‘brutally unhappy.’

The Germans had completely dominated the first 60 minutes, gaining the lead thanks to an Ilkay Gundogan penalty. However, their inability to score a second goal during this period cost them, as Japan rallied late to claim a famous 2-1 victory at the Khalifa International Stadium.

Speaking to the press after the game, manager Flick said: “We are brutally disappointed. Not only me, but also the coaching staff and the players.

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“We had 78% possession in the first half and deservedly took the lead. In a phase in which we were superior, we had a lot of chances to score, but we didn’t take them. Japan beat us with efficiency today.

“The individual mistakes that we made in the second half must not happen to us. We need to build up the players now. We won’t have a nice trip home.”

Flick wasn’t afraid to name the culprits who made the aforementioned mistakes, singling out Niklas Sule: “Niklas simply has to pay attention. He played him onside because he dropped two or three steps too far. These are individual mistakes that we had to pay for today.

“We will analyse the game and we have a lot to make up for. But we have the quality to beat Spain. That’s our focus now.”