As Germany prepare to take on Paraguay in the World Cup Round of 32, Kai Havertz dismisses Gary Lineker’s criticism
Arsenal forward Kai Havertz says he ‘doesn’t care’ about criticism after former England striker Gary Lineker described Germany as ‘one of the weakest national teams ever’. Julian Nagelsmann’s side are preparing to face Paraguay in the World Cup Round of 32 as they seek to advance further in the competition.
They suffered a setback in their final group fixture against Ecuador as the South American outfit secured a 2-1 victory in one of the tournament’s most stunning upsets. The FIFA-ranked 23rd nation in the world fought back to defeat Germany and progress to the knockout rounds courtesy of Gonzalo Plata’s strike 13 minutes from the final whistle after Nilson Angulo equalised Leroy Sane’s opening goal.
Lineker was forthright when assessing Germany’s prospects of progressing at the World Cup during an interview with French publication L’Equipe recently. The former England striker, who witnessed Harry Kane surpass his record as the most prolific Englishman in the tournament at the weekend, dismissed the four-time champions’ hopes.
Lineker said: “I think, I could be wrong, that this is one of the weakest German national teams I’ve seen. France can qualify for the quarter-finals without any problem. Remember that they didn’t even make it out of the group stage of the last two World Cups. So I think you can sleep soundly.”
Nevertheless, the remarks from the former BBC Match of the Day host have been swiftly acknowledged and dismissed. Havertz stated bluntly that he pays no attention to outside opinions, reports the Mirror.
He said: “Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I didn’t even notice it myself. Of course, at a tournament like this, a lot of people start talking about you. I don’t think anyone really pays much attention.
“We already have plenty of experts in our own country – if it starts happening in other countries too, then at some point enough is enough. It’s always easy to criticise us from the outside. But I really couldn’t care less.”
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Germany brought an end to their unwelcome streak of failing to progress beyond the Group Stage in each of the previous two tournaments, as the 2014 champions suffered humiliating campaigns on the global stage.
They managed to avoid that fate this time, overcoming Curacao and Ivory Coast, though they required two goals from substitute Deniz Undav to see off the Ivorians and secure passage to the knockout rounds.
Ecuador’s 2-1 victory brought them crashing back down to reality as they now confront another challenging South American examination to overcome.
Nagelsmann has come under scrutiny regarding his position, with Jurgen Klopp widely expected to be his replacement. The former Bayern Munich manager faces a pivotal tournament to demonstrate he is the right person to restore the German national side to the elite level.
When questioned about expectations surrounding the team, he said: “At least it’s always about winning when you talk about the German national team, it’s always about trying to win every game.
“Tomorrow it is about winning the game, to deal with expectations is to have self-confidence, have a good plan so the players can feel comfortable on the pitch, to do the right things, to show they are good players. It’s all about winning, if you win everything is perfect, if you lose everything is s***, so we have to win tomorrow.”
