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Germany manager Hansi Flick blamed Niklas Sule for his mistake during the 2014 world champion's defeat to Japan in the opening Group E fixture of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Wednesday, 23 November.
Sule was in the wrong to play Takuma Asano onside by staying too low as the rest of the defense tried to play the Japanese offside. Flick pointed out the error as he said after the game:
"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."
Flick further added:
"In the first half, we missed a lot of chances. Japan beat us in terms of efficiency and therefore scored one more goal. The individual mistakes that we made must not happen. We knew Japan were quick in transition, and that's what they did today"
Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring for Germany in the 33rd minute as he converted a spot kick. Ritsu Doan scored the equalizer for Japan in the 75th minute before Takuma Asano scored a stunning winner in the 83rd minute.
While the four-time world champions were in firm control during the first half, their dominance started to fade away as the game progressed. Japan had a great second half and were deservingly the winner of the game.
In the other game of Group E, Spain defeated Costa Rica by a massive scoreline of 7-0.
Hansi Flick acknowledged Germany is under pressure after loss to Japan in the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Germany find themselves in a tough spot after their loss to Japan in the opening Group E fixture. Hansi Flick acknowledged the fact as he said after the game (via Times of India):
"With this defeat and zero points, we are under pressure, no question about it, We can only blame ourselves. It's a great disappointment. We were on the right path in the first half, we had 78% possession and were ahead 1-0. Then we had good chances in the second half that we didn't take advantage of."
