Germany coach Hansi Flick gave a brutal assessment of Niklas Sule after his side’s shocking defeat to Japan in their opening World Cup match.

Japan celebrated memorable 2-1 victoryFlick blamed Sule for second goalAlso bemoaned Germany’s numerous individual errors

WHAT HAPPENED? Germany crashed to a shock defeat in their group opener after two quick-fire goals from Japan turned the game on its head in Doha, the second of which saw Sule caught napping. Flick didn’t mince his words when asked about Japan’s second, highlighting the makeshift right-back’s mistake as well as the individual errors from his side as a whole.

WHAT THEY SAID: “Niklas simply has to pay attention,” Flick said in post-match. “He played him onside because he dropped two or three steps too far. These are individual mistakes that we had to pay for today.

“In the first half we missed a lot of chances,” he continued. “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”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Defeat to Japan was Germany’s second successive opening day loss at a World Cup, after they were beaten 1-0 by Mexico in Russia 2018, in a group they eventually finished bottom of despite being tournament holders. Flick’s side now face an uphill battle in Qatar as they still have Costa Rica and European giants Spain to play in Group E.

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DID YOU KNOW? Germany lost a World Cup game in which they led at half-time for the first time since 1978 (2-3 vs Austria), having gone unbeaten in their previous 21 such matches before Wednesday.

WHAT NEXT FOR GERMANY? Flick’s side take on Luis Enrique’s Spain in Germany’s next match on November 27, needing a win to be in with a chance of qualification to the round of 16.