News (engl.)

Germany’s 2-1 defeat to Ecuador in their third and final group game at the FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico did not affect their final position in the group. After the match, head coach Julian Nagelsmann and his players gave their reaction after the defeat. DFB.de has rounded up the reaction.

Julian Nagelsmann: We made a really good start. We should have built on that with far more conviction, but instead we started to lose our structure. We conceded the equaliser after giving the ball away and were sitting too deep at the time. We made a lot of changes in the second half because we knew there were tired legs out there. We trust every player in the squad. Ecuador had everything riding on the game and you could tell – they played with real urgency.

Joshua Kimmich: We started well, but then we gave the ball away too often. We let them into the game and gave them belief. In the second half, we deserved to lose. We really wanted to win this game, but we can’t keep conceding one or two goals every time we play. We also have to cut down on the number of times we lose possession.

Deniz Undav: I felt they wanted it more than we did. They got stuck in more than we did and had to give their all. They won the ball back a lot and we never really found our rhythm. Ecuador kept going right to the end and gave absolutely everything – that was probably the story of the game. We have to stand up to that better and learn from it.

Jamal Musiala: They showed more hunger and played at a really high intensity and with real aggression. We can take lessons from that as we get ready for the decisive stage of the tournament now. A game like this matters for all of us. We can’t use the pitch as an excuse either.