According to the Express, Germany central defender Antonio Rudiger got into an argument with a teenage FIFA volunteer after his team was eliminated from the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Die Mannschaft defeated Costa Rica 4-2 in their final Group E game on Thursday, but Japan’s victory over Spain forced the 2014 world champions to withdraw from the tournament.
Rudiger’s tensions erupted as he walked down the tunnel following the victory over the South American side. A teenage FIFA volunteer approached the Real Madrid centre-back and allegedly yelled at him:
“Off home!”
The player came to a halt and reportedly responded to the volunteer:
“What did you just say? Off home? You idiot!”
Germany’s exit woes were exacerbated by the Samurai Blues’ victory over Spain in the other match. Ao Tanaka’s 51st-minute winner was controversial because the ball appeared to have gone out of play during the build-up.
FIFA has since released images that show the ball did not fully cross the line, compounding Die Mannschaft’s misery. Rudiger expressed his disappointment at Germany’s elimination from the FIFA World Cup, saying:
“We’re back to zero, and that’s the harsh reality. Lots of talent, all well and good. But there is simply more to it. There are other factors as well: the ultimate greed, this filth – we lack that. We are a very, very nice team.”
Germany started their World Cup campaign with a shocking 2-1 defeat against Japan and followed that up with a 1-1 draw against Spain in their next group match.
Against Japan, Germany were actually leading at halftime, but the opposition upped their game in the second half, scoring in the 75th minute through Ritsu Doan and in the 83rd minute through Takuma Asano.
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