Germany manager and Bastian Schweinsteiger in furious exchange after World Cup disaster
Hansi Flick has seen his German side knocked out of the World Cup and has reacted angrily to an assessment of their performance by Bastian Schweinsteiger
Germany boss Hansi Flick took issue with Bastian Schweinsteiger's assessment of his team as the pair clashed on TV.
The Germans were sent crashing out of the World Cup, becoming one of the tournament's biggest casualties so far. Spain and Japan, who shocked the Europeans in their opening game, were the two teams to advance from their group, leaving the 2014 winners to reflect on their latest failure.
Germany have failed to perform at the last two World Cups under two different managers. Flick took over from Joachim Low 18 months ago, but saw his side pick up four points from their three games, exiting on goal difference despite their win over Costa Rica.
Schweinsteiger, who was crucial to the success of 2014, had his say on the matter at full-time - but its fair to say he and Flick didn't see eye-to-eye. The former Bayern Munich boss was debriefing with the media and was asked to respond to Schweinsteiger's assessment that other teams appeared to have more energy.
Flick hit back by saying: "That's absolute nonsense. What's that based on?" The 57-year-old boss also refused to comment on speculation regarding his own future, but admitted that a quick decision was needed.
Schweinsteiger, who didn't blame Flick for the early exit, also claimed on German broadcaster ARD : "The appearance of the national team is not enough, that's not enough. We invited the opponent. The fundamental problem is that we often invite the opponent."
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Germany's boss went on to say: "I am convinced we had possibilities and chances in the (last) match against Spain to win, but you have to take those chances and score and then it would have been a different situation for us. There are so many reasons (for Germany's exit), but I am not looking to find excuses. We did not have a lot of time to train, but it is not down to that. We fulfilled our duty today and went off the pitch with a victory, but the result could have been better."
The Germans had reached at least the semi-finals in every tournament from World Cup in 2006 up until Euro 2016. Since then though they've failed to make it past the last 16 at a major competition, suffering some serious upsets along the way.
Jamal Musiala seems to be the one shining light, but the Germans have been unable to make any dominance count. "I'm disappointed and shocked with how this went today. The national team did too little," Schweinsteiger added. "It's not good enough. Statistics don't matter in the end. You have to take your opponent out of the game."
