Manuel Neuer Brands Germany Squad 'Pathetic' After World Cup Group Stage Humiliation

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has hit out at his squad and branded his side's performances in the World Cup as 'pathetic' after Die Mannschaft were eliminated from the tournament in the group stages.

The holders only needed a victory against South Korea in order to progress as Mexico were beaten 3-0 by Sweden in the other Group F finale, but missed a host of excellent chances en route to a shock 2-0 defeat to go crashing out of the competition.

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Neuer was personally at fault for South Korea's second goal as he was caught in possession on the edge of the Koreans' penalty box deep into injury time, allowing Ju Se-jong to play a long ball up field for Son Heung-min to tap into an empty net.

The Bayern Munich stopper pulled no punches in his post-match comments (via the Daily Mail), saying: "We deserved to be eliminated. We didn't convince in any game. This was not the Germany we know. It was pathetic.

"We lacked commitment. Even if we had gone through, in the next round or the round afterwards, we'd have been knocked out."

Germany's abysmal performance in the World Cup saw them lose two of their group stage games - a far cry from their triumph at the 2014 tournament which saw them thrash Brazil 7-1 on their way to the final.

Joachim Loew, manager of the national side since 2006, echoed Neuer's sentiments after the match. 

"The disappointment of being eliminated is just huge," said the coach. "I'm shocked. It is historic. I am sure this will create some public uproar in Germany.

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"We were missing our ease of play, our classiness, our dynamism was not there. So we deserved to be eliminated."

Germany are now the fourth team in the last five World Cups to go out at the group stage after winning the previous tournament.