Antonio Rudiger insists Germany are too 'nice' after World Cup exit

‘This something dirty, we miss that’: Antonio Rudiger insists Germany are too ‘nice’ and lacking ‘greed’ after their second straight World Cup group stage exit… as the Real Madrid defender admits his country are now ‘back to square one’

  • Antonio Rudiger has insisted Germany were too ‘nice’ after their World Cup exit
  • Germany dumped out at the group-stages for a second successive World Cup
  • The Real Madrid defender feels they lack ‘something dirty’ to be successful  
  • For all the latest updates from Qatar follow Sportsmail’s LIVE World Cup blog
  • Click here for the latest World Cup 2022 news, fixtures, live action and results

Antonio Rudiger has insisted that Germany were too ‘nice’ after being dumped out of the 2022 World Cup at the group stages.

Germany came from 2-1 down to beat Costa Rica 4-2, but it was not enough as Japan pulled off a surprise win against Spain to send Hansi Flick’s side out of the tournament on goal difference.

It the second successive World Cup that Germany have gone out in the group-stages – despite being one of the favourites to progress on both occasions.

Antonio Rudiger insisted Germany were too ‘nice’ after being dumped out of the World Cup

Germany missed out on progression into the last-16 in Qatar on goal difference to Spain

The Real Madrid defender believes they have bundles of talent in the squad, but need to be more gritty to be successful.

Rudiger told German TV channel Sport1: ‘We’re back to square one, that’s the hard reality! A lot of talent, all well and good, but there are other things that go into it. 

‘This last greed, this something dirty, we miss that. We are a very, very nice team!’

The Real Madrid defender believes they miss ‘something dirty’ and are back to ‘square one’

Germany lost their opening match in the group 2-1 to Japan before bouncing back with a 1-1 against Spain, although that left them with work to do on the final round of matches in Group E.  

They refused to lie down in their match on Thursday, recovering from a 2-1 deficit in the second half to finish strongly with Kai Havertz netting a late brace and Niclas Fullkrug also getting on the scoresheet.

The other match, however, didn’t go in their favour as Japan sealed a controversial 2-1 win over Spain – meaning the former topped the group while the latter beat Germany on goal difference to progress.

Ao Tanaka scored from close range as Japan came from behind to lead against their European opponents to secure one of their most famous ever results, with a VAR review overturning the original decision to disallow the goal.

Germany’s only victory of the major tournament in Qatar ensured that they didn’t come bottom of their group like they did four years ago when they lost to Mexico and South Korea in Russia.

They have, however, been ridiculed by former players, media and newspaper outlets for their shock early exit from the World Cup. 




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