JAKARTA - Japan as a dark horse team managed to beat Germany in the inaugural match of Group E of the Qatar 2022 World Cup at Khalifa International Stadium, Doha on November 23. Although he was 1 goal behind with Ilkay Gundogan's penalty in the 33rd minute, Japan could surprisingly turn things around through Ritsu Doan's goal in the 75th minute and Takuma Asano's goal in the 84th minute.
The score turned 2-1 for Japan's advantage, lasted until the long whistle sounded.
"This is a huge disappointment. We were on the right track in the first half, with 78 percent possession and 1-0 lead. Then we had a good chance in the second half that we couldn't take advantage of," German coach Hansi Flick told Reuters.
"Japan is more efficient today. We made mistakes that we should never have made especially at the World Cup and those are things we need to improve," he added.
A number of fans actually thought the German players were too fussy about political affairs off the field that they were finally distracted from focusing on winning the game.
Launching the Daily Mail, the German Football Association (DFB) had previously issued a firm statement in support of its team, saying, "Prohibiting the captain's armband is the same as prohibiting our right to speak."
The players showed it in a photo of the pre-match team against Japan with the expression of covering their mouths with their right hands in protest against FIFA's OneLove armband ban.
A fan commented on Twitter, Germany deserves it because it is so obsessed with rainbow and political armbands.
Others said, "Don't be distracted by 'political' and just play your football. All unnecessary virtue signals, don't help you win. Germany should have won this.
The defeat was Germany's second defeat in a row in the inaugural match of the World Cup. In 2018 in Russia, Germany lost 0-1 to Mexico.
Despite a 2-1 win against Sweden in the next match, Der Panzer as defending champion remains unable to qualify from the group stage after losing 0-2 to South Korea in the third game. Did that disaster happen again to Germany at the 2022 World Cup Qatar?
If the match against Spain at Al Bayt Stadium on November 28, Der Panzer can get 3 points, the chance to qualify from Group E is still wide open. Moreover, if Japan plays a draw against Costa Rica.
However, if Germany only drew, chances became more difficult. A draw and a win only resulted in four points, which means whether or not to qualify depends on other team matches in Group E. It could be that the goal difference will play a role.
If Germany and Japan lose in the second match, the competition in Group E will be fiercer, three teams have the same points. The opportunity will be completely closed if Germany loses and Japan gets 3 points again.
The best chance certainly wins the remaining two matches. At the same time keeping hopes of winning the fifth World Cup title equal to Brazil.
Regarding the political polemic of rainbow armband tires that read One Love' which is accused by German fans at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, FIFA has indeed strictly banned the use of the tires and will impose strict sanctions on players who violate the provisions.
The rainbow armband is a symbol of support for the LGBT community, which is considered illegal in Qatar.
As a result, England captain Harry Kane, who had previously expressed his desire to wear the tires ahead of the match against Iran, canceled his intention.
Likewise German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and several other state team captains such as Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk, Belgian captain Eden Hazard, Danish captain Simon Kjaer, and Swiss captain Granit Xhaka.
"FIFA will very clearly impose a sports sanction if our captain wears colorful armbands on the pitch," the team captain said in a statement.
"As a national federation, we cannot put our players in a position where they can face sporting sanctions including yellow cards, so we have asked the captain not to try wearing armbands in FIFA World Cup games," read the joint statement.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser who watched the German vs Japan match said the FIFA ban was a big mistake. The German Football Association also plans to take legal action against FIFA to end the ban.
"We are examining all options following FIFA's decision," Reuters wrote.
Launching the Daily Mail, following a rainbow armband ban, Germany's wholesale shop chain Rewe canceled its advertising campaign with the German Football Association.
Rewe's move, one of Germany's largest supermarket chains with sales across the group of 76.5 billion euros, made it the first sponsor to take action after FIFA threatens to issue a yellow card to every player wearing rainbow armbands at Qatar's 2022 World Cup.
We defend diversity and football is also diversity. We are in this position and we are defending it. The attitude of the FIFA scandal is completely unacceptable," said Rewe Group chief executive Lionel Souque.
The decision reflects Germany's negative mood towards the tournament held in Qatar, which can be seen both online, with the hashtag #BoycottQatar2022 on Twitter in Germany, or on the pitch with various protests, including the German stadium that lit 20,000 candles for Qatar's death of migrant workers.
Rewe said it had informed the German Football Association in October that it did not want to continue their partnership. But after the captain's armband decision, they wanted to distance themselves from the position of FIFA and give up their advertising rights under sponsorship agreements.
Rewe said he would start sharing World Cup-themed sticker albums available in his stores for free and donating proceeds from those already sold.
The Sun newspaper on November 20 reported that British beverage maker and sponsor Lucozade had withdrawn all of its branding from Qatar's 2022 World Cup.
Separately, Deutsche Telekom on November 22 plans to talk to the German Football Association about the rainbow armband band controversy.
The German Football Association (DFB) is the largest in the world, with more than 7 million active members. Other DFB partners include Volkswagen, Adidas, Deutsche Telekom, Lufthansa and Commerzbank.
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