Manuel Neuer turned up 50 minutes late for his press conference on Tuesday as Germany held crisis talks in a bid to get their World Cup campaign back on track.
Joachim Low’s world champions suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by Mexico in their opening game and now face a uphill battle to reach the knockout stages, starting with Saturday’s must-win clash with Sweden.
And despite a dressing-room debrief after Sunday’s game at the Luzhniki Stadium, heated discussions between Low and his squad have continued this week. Neuer, who has been playing for the national side since 2009, revealed that ‘there has never been such strong words within the team’, while bemoaning their lack of ‘courage, identity, and confidence’ against Juan Carlos Osorio’s side.
The Bayern Munich No 1 also admitted that the squad were ‘mad and disappointed’ and claimed that everyone was responsibility for the shock result.
‘Sorry that we came too late. We had one more session that lasted longer. It was a wake-up call. Of course, a lot can happen. There has never been such strong words within the team as after the Mexico game. A good sign. You can tell that many players want to get involved.’He said.