Florian Wirtz nightmare as 'wives and girlfriends' blamed for World Cup exit
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Liverpool FC NewsFeaturesFlorian WirtzGermany legend Lothar Matthaus claimed the presence of players' families at the World Cup distracted the nation's squad, contributing to the team's early exit at the round of 32 against ParaguayFlorian Wirtz and Germany are out of the World Cup(Image: Getty Images)Lothar Matthaus reckons Germany's players lost their concentration at the World Cup because their families were with them.The former national team skipper, 65, drew parallels with the 1994 tournament, when the Germans were knocked out in the quarterfinals by Bulgaria while defending their title. Matthaus, a World Cup winner in 1990, led his country in both of those campaigns.Florian Wirtz is at the heart of Germany's new soccer nightmare, as the Liverpool star was a regular for his country at the tournament.
Wirtz produced three assists in four games, but his contribution wasn't enough to keep Germany's World Cup dream alive.Following his retirement, Matthaus has maintained a prominent profile as a television analyst in his homeland. This summer, he is employed by the German newspaper BILD.After his country's elimination by Paraguay in the round of 32, following its first World Cup penalty shootout defeat, Matthaus was determined to examine factors beyond the team's display against the South American opposition.He said: "While there's a lot that needs to be processed about what happened on the pitch, what happened off the pitch also needs to be a topic of discussion.Nele Kracht, the girlfriend of Germany star Nadiem Amiri, was one of the team's WAGs in North America(Image: Getty Images)"There were documentaries [made] about this topic in '94 [and] I don't think it was that different this time round."Matthaus maintains that family was "more important for many of [the players] than what took place on the football pitch."More than three decades after his own experience of World Cup heartbreak in the United States, he struggled to comprehend the rationale for Germany's presence.
Matthaus said: "I really don't know why they should be there."They [the players] hadn't even been in America for two weeks, and already their entire families were with them. Matthaus stated: "I know that it was a topic of discussion and that one player was cross with another because he was allowed to bring his mum with him."Another was allowed to bring his wife, then the kids were allowed to fly too."Disparities reportedly emerged with some traveling on the team aircraft, while "others had had to take a commercial flight."He concluded: "The focus was simply not on the World Cup, but on this free day to spend with the family and that free day with the family."Choose Liverpool.com as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.Florian WirtzLiverpool FCFIFA World Cup