German media sound alarm after shock World Cup defeat

Germany’s media reacted with concern and worry to the World Cup holder’s shock 1-0 defeat against Mexico on Sunday.

Hirving Lozano hit the winning goal after 35 minutes in Moscow when the German defence was caught napping.

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This was the first time Germany have lost an opening game at a World Cup finals since going down 2-1 to Algeria when Spain hosted the 1982 tournament.

Top-selling German daily Bild declared on their website: “Embarrassing performance against Mexico: this crash causes us World Cup worry”.

Munich-based newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung agreed with “There are reasons to worry” over a picture of the dejected German team, who need to beat Sweden and South Korea to be sure of going through.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper went for “Fiesta Mexicana: False start for Germany”.

Magazine Sports Bild commented “There were no world champions to be seen on the pitch” in a damning verdict on the below-par performance.