By Karolos Grohmann
BOSTON, Massachusetts, June 26 (Reuters) – Germany may not be too worried by their 2-1 loss to Ecuador on Thursday as they had secured top spot in Group E beforehand, but it was a timely wake-up call ahead of the World Cup knockout stage for the four-time world champions.
Germany made it out of their group for the first time in 12 years but they looked sloppy at the back, up to and including 40-year-old keeper Manuel Neuer. They also committed errors all over the pitch, which will need to be fixed by the time they travel to Boston for their round-of-32 match on Monday. Their opponents have yet to be determined.
“We have to learn from this defeat and prepare ourselves for the important phase of this tournament,” midfielder Jamal Musiala said. “We can no longer afford to make mistakes like we did and we have to win the next game.”
Musiala was part of the problem on Thursday, lacking any creativity or speed in his game, with the midfielder playing a below-par World Cup so far as he struggles to recover his form after breaking his leg 12 months ago and being sidelined for more than half a year.
Coach Julian Nagelsmann is likely to keep faith with his midfielder, eager to give him playing time, but holding midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic’s starting spot could be in doubt after he delivered his worst performance so far.
Germany’s backline is in a state of emergency after conceding at least one goal for their third straight World Cup match.
Their defensive problems have been compounded by the absence of starting central defender Nico Schlotterbeck, who suffered an ankle ligament injury in the second group match against Ivory Coast and has been ruled out for the tournament.
“We keep inviting the opposition in with turnovers, effectively making them stronger,” Germany captain Joshua Kimmich said. “Fortunately, nothing is lost yet. But it’s clear we can’t afford another defeat. We can’t keep conceding one or two goals every game. We have to minimise our turnover rate. Then we can beat anyone.”
For Nagelsmann’s team the defeat does not spell disaster despite the criticism from back home, but the coach has urged more patience going into the knockout stage.
“We need more patience and not to leave our positions so much. We trust all the players in the squad,” Nagelsmann said. “We don’t have to see everything bad now. The key is to have more patience and we will now go to Boston on Monday to win.”
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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