NEW YORK, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Before the drama of Monday night in Boston, Germany could boast a proud World Cup record of never having lost a penalty shootout, making its exit to Paraguay especially significant.
The Germans had won all four World Cup penalty shootouts in which they had been involved, showing such clinical efficiency that, until Monday, the only German to miss a penalty in a World Cup shootout was Uli Stielike in the 1982 semifinal against France.
All of that changed on a hot, humid evening in Boston when Germany discovered the pain of a World Cup exit in the cruelest way possible.
Kai Havertz, Nick Woltemade and Jonathan Tah all missed their penalties on Monday night as Germany crashed out of the competition to a Paraguay team it had dominated for much of the game.
Havertz deserves some credit for stepping up to take the first penalty of the shootout after he had earlier failed to score a penalty in the 7-1 group-stage win over Curacao, but his miss allowed Mauricio to give Paraguay an early advantage.
Woltemade also missed his spot kick and, although the heroics of veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer took the tie into sudden death, Tah blasted his effort high over the bar to allow Jose Canale to send Paraguay into the last 16.
The post-mortem on another World Cup disappointment has already begun, with coach Julian Nagelsmann's future already in doubt, although he did improve on 2018 and 2022, when Germany fell at the group stage.
Keeping cool and being ruthless and efficient from the penalty spot used to be one of the most reliable facets of German football. In Germany, many might now be wondering: has the team lost part of its identity, and how can it get it back? ■
