Germany 'played very badly' in Mexico loss - Low

Hirving Lozano scored the only goal after 35 minutes in Moscow as Germany lost its opening game at a World Cup for the first time in 36 years.

Published : Jun 18, 2018 01:31 IST , Moscow

 “In the first half we played very badly. We weren't able to impose our usual way of playing, our attacking and passing was not effective,” Joachim Loew said.
“In the first half we played very badly. We weren't able to impose our usual way of playing, our attacking and passing was not effective,” Joachim Loew said.
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“In the first half we played very badly. We weren't able to impose our usual way of playing, our attacking and passing was not effective,” Joachim Loew said.

Germany coach Joachim Low admitted that the reigning World Cup champion was made to pay for a poor first half as it slumped to a 1-0 defeat by Mexico on Sunday.

Hirving Lozano scored the only goal after 35 minutes in Moscow as Germany lost its opening game at a World Cup for the first time in 36 years.

“In the first half we played very badly. We weren't able to impose our usual way of playing, our attacking and passing was not effective,” Low said. “In the second half we pressed more but Mexico dropped back,” he added.

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“We had a couple of shots on goal but somehow it seemed jinxed, the ball wouldn't go in and sometimes we didn't keep our cool with our finishing. Tomorrow we have to look forward and put this behind us.”

Germany has never failed to advance beyond the group stage at a World Cup, but Low's side must regroup quickly ahead of its next game against Sweden on June 23 in Sochi.

“It's disappointing to have lost the first match. It's a situation we're not used to at all. In many previous tournaments, we've always won the first match but we have to accept it. There can always be obstacles to overcome and we need to draw conclusions and be much better in the next match,” Low said.

READ: Germany follows trend of poor starts for World Cup champions

Germany had won its opening World Cup game at each of the previous seven editions, with its only prior loss in 18 appearances a 2-1 reverse against Algeria at the 1982 finals.

“The team has experience dealing with losses. It goes without saying that the next match will be decisive for us, we have to win it.”

“We will not change our game plan. If we play out our ideas, then we have players who are able to deliver. We need to focus on our strong points, which we haven't been able to do in our last couple of games,” Low added.

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