Five things we've learned: Korea Republic 2-0 Germany
Holders Germany were sensationally dumped out of the World Cup after a late VAR review set South Korea on the way to a 2-0 win in their Group F encounter.
We've learned that the champions need a striker and Cho Hyun-Woo could be a Premier League transfer target, read on to see what else we've learnt.
GERMANY ARE FALLIBLE
Going into this World Cup, the defending champions were being mentioned in the same breath as Brazil as favourites for the tournament.
Nobody saw a group stage exit coming.
Germany won all of their games in qualifying. They scored 43 goals, level with Belgium as the most by a European team and they came into the tournament as the FIFA-ranked number one team in the world.
They depart Russia with their reputation tarnished, finishing bottom of a group with Mexico (15th), Sweden (24th) and Korea Republic (57th).
He may have signed a new contract just weeks before the start of the tournament, but questions will be asked about Joachim Loew’s future.
THIS WORLD CUP IS ANYONE’S
At time of writing, Brazil are still in the World Cup but, like Germany were heading into their final group game, are yet to hit their stride.
Combine that with sloppy, unconvincing displays from some of the tournament favourites and we could have a recipe for a first-time winner.
Or maybe one who hasn’t won the tournament for say, 52 years?
CHO HYUN-WOO COULD BE A TOP TARGET
Korea Republic probably deserved more from their World Cup campaign, but as is often the case for the so-called lesser teams in international tournaments, some of their players have certainly put themselves in the proverbial ‘shop-window’.
None more-so than goalkeeper Cho Hyun-Woo.
A highlights reel of his tournament would be choc-full of acrobatic saves, intelligent distribution and calmness under pressure.
He’s already being spoken about as a potential signing for a Premier League club, and if his World Cup performance is anything to go by, he’d be a valuable addition.
MANUEL NEUER HAS HAD A POOR WORLD CUP
On the other end of the spectrum, one ‘keeper we’d expected to have a good tournament was Manuel Neuer.
He may have been injured for much of last season but the Bayern Munich number one is regularly spoken of as one of, if not the best, in the world.
As we saw with David de Gea in Spain’s opener, that moniker may be somewhat of a poisoned chalice.
A sweeper keeper he may be, and panic stations set in the moment Korea went ahead, but it’s difficult to see the logic of a Goalkeeper playing in the final third, no matter the state of the game.
Inevitably, it was his loss of possession that led to Korea’s second and hammered the final nail in the coffin of Germany’s World Cup dreams.
THE CHAMPIONS NEED A STRIKER
In 270 minutes of football, against teams they were supposed to brush aside, the defending champions found the back of the net on just two occasions.
That’s not to say that they didn’t create chances. Against Korea Republic they had 28 shots, 20 of which were from inside the box, and only managed to put 6 on target.
Most of those went straight into Cho Hyun-Woo’s hands, and many were unchallenged from the edge of the six-yard box.
A better finisher at the business end of pitch and it’s easy to see Germany cruising through to the knockout stages.