KAZAN, Russia — Germany became the latest defending champion to crash out of the World Cup at the first hurdle, part of a trend but definitely not part of the plan when Germany arrived here loaded with stars and swagger.
A smooth-running scoring machine when it won the Cup in 2014, Germany now appears in need of an overhaul after losing, 2-0, to South Korea here on Wednesday and bidding adieu to Russia about three weeks earlier than many expected.
“We tried to improve and lift our game, but we just couldn’t do it today,” Toni Kroos, Germany’s star midfielder, said.
It was the earliest exit for a German team at the World Cup since 1938, which seems even more distant when you consider Hitler was then the country’s leader and only 15 teams participated.
After Wednesday’s defeat, Kroos, unlike some of his teammates, did not drop to the grass. But he looked stunned, nonetheless: standing all but motionless just outside the center circle and staring into space with a hand on each hip as South Korean players celebrated one of the bigger upsets in this tournament’s 88-year history.
Germany always finds a way, said those in the know as Kroos’s shot curled into the Swedish net as if guided by GPS. But that rush of pure adrenaline turned out to be a false dawn instead of the cathartic boost this talented but ultimately ineffectual team required.
With stars like Kroos, Mesut Özil and Mats Hummels, Germany won every match in qualifying for this World Cup, the first German team to do so. But it could not even make it out of the group phase in Russia.
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