When the whistle went in Brisbane, confirming Germany were leaving the Women’s World Cup 17 days before the final takes place, some players fell to their knees in tears while others stared, drifting ghost-like across the pitch, barely taking in what had just happened.
“To be honest I can’t comprehend it,” said captain Alexandra Popp immediately after the 1-1 draw with South Korea which confirmed their World Cup dreams were over.
She put her hands on her head and puffed out her cheeks in disbelief, adding: “I don’t know what I should really say. I can’t really understand what has happened to be honest. Yeah, no idea.”
It is a feeling Germany are not used to.
They are two-time world champions and have topped the group in eight of the nine Women’s World Cups they have competed in.
Very few would have predicted the Euro 2022 finalists, ranked second in the world, would fail to progress from a group containing Colombia, Morocco and South Korea.
“It is the biggest shock in the women’s game,” former England midfielder Fara Williams told BBC Two.
Ex-Lionesses goalkeeper Karen Bardsley added: “This might be unprecedented in terms of scale. This entire tournament has been chaotic, it’s been turned on its head.”
Seeing Germany exit the group stages of a major tournament is always a shock – but to see both their men’s and women’s teams fail to progress in the space of nine months is unthinkable.
“If you want to see a disaster in terms of sport, it’s hard to argue against that,” said Germany boss Martina Voss-Tecklenburg.
“What we need to do is rise again and not give up. We love this sport. Of course you cannot expect a deep analysis yet. We need to let it sink in. I don’t want to look for excuses in anything.”
