It was quite the monumental night in Wolfsburg this evening as Germany were ripped apart by Japan who comfortably won 1-4.
This may just be the lowest point in German football for many decades. If the defeat in Qatar felt day, today just felt that much worse.
Hansi Flick was left sitting back in his chair as the boos echoed around the Volkswagen Arena.
Japan took the lead after just 12 minutes, thanks to Junya Ito. The winger got in front of Antonio Rüdiger at the near post and snuck the ball home.
Germany did respond and after a well-worked move, Leroy Sané finished neatly to draw level. However, after that, it was all one-way traffic. Just two minutes later, the Japanese found themselves back in front.
It was excellent work by Yukinari Sugawara down the left, whose cross found one Japanese player and then a second as Germany’s defence were caught flat-footed. It wouldn’t be the last time.
In the second half, Germany had the majority of the ball but couldn’t make use of it. In fact, Die Mannschaft didn’t register one shot on target in the whole of the second 45.
Japan finally found a third on the 90th minute through VfL Bochum’s Takuma Asano before Fortuna Düsseldorf’s Ao Tanaka sealed a memorable night in Wolfsburg for Japan.
It’s no win in five games for Germany and a fourth successive defeat.
GGFN | Jamie Allen