Germany captain Manuel Neuer said today that his side's two remaining World Cup group games are now effectively finals and revealed frank words were exchanged in the team camp as the holders fight to stay in the tournament.
The World Cup holders are under intense pressure ahead of Saturday's second Group F game against Sweden in Sochi and the South Korea match next tomorrow in Kazan after suffering a shock 1-0 defeat to Mexico on Sunday.
"From now on, we only have finals. The players have to show what they can do, but I am convinced that we can do it," Neuer said.
Pre-World Cup talk from the German camp was about becoming the first team since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend the title.
Now the worry is whether Joachim Loew's team can even reach the last 16. "Complaining about what happened doesn't change anything, we all know that," said Neuer.
"We have to try to put this behind us as quickly as possible." Neuer revealed that head coach Loew spoke at length during an emergency team meeting after the poor display in Moscow and that the players did not hold back in giving their opinion.
- 'We didn't mince words' -
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"We want to reach the knock-out stages and the team believes that we can do it."
"In terms of the performance, I don't think we need to change players."
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