Germany boss Joachim Low: ‘We deserve to be eliminated’

It’s the first time since 1938 that Germany  have gone out in the first round of the tournament. Germany lost their opener 1-0 to Mexico, but then beat Sweden 2-1, thanks to Toni Kroos' 95th-minute winner  However, the defending champions finished bottom of Group F after losing 2-0 to South Korea. "This is something for us to reckon with," Low said. "This is historic. I am sure this will create some public uproar in Germany." Sweden won the group with a 3-0 win over Mexico at the same time, which meant Germany needed to win their game in Kazan. "We saw Sweden had taken the lead so we needed to keep the pressure up but our team was missing the ease of play and the classiness we usually have. So, we deserve to be eliminated, yes," said Low, who had never failed to reach a semi-final before in his 12-year reign. "At this tournament we didn't deserve to win again or move to the round of 16. We were eliminated not because we didn't want to win but we never had the chance to take a lead at any point - we were always lagging behind, trying to keep up." "I'm shocked because we didn't manage to pull it off and beat South Korea. It wasn't my understanding when speaking to the team that they felt under pressure. They were ready to move ahead and qualify. We need to talk about it calmly and I think it will take some hours for us to come to terms with it."

World Cup 2018. South Korea 2-0 Germany all goals & highlights (VIDEO)