September 09, (THEWILL) – Germany suffered an embarrassing 4-1 home defeat to Japan on Saturday, in what capped off a miserable run of form for Hansi Flick’s side.
The national team has won just 12 of Flick’s 26 games in charge and the pressure is growing. In front of an unhappy home crowd in Wolfsburg, Germany went 1-0 down early through Junya Ito’s goal. Leroy Sane levelled but Ayase Ueda restored Japan’s lead before half-time in the end-to-end clash.
Germany huffed and puffed after the break but could not find the net, and conceded twice more in injury time through Takuma Asano and Ao Tanaka. Boos rang out at full-time from disgruntled fans not used to seeing their national team lose so miserably at home.
It means Germany has won only once in 2023, a 2-0 victory over Peru in March. Up next is a tricky match against World Cup runners up France on Tuesday, in what will be Germany’s final home game of the calendar year.
Flick will want a reaction but knows his future could be in doubt if poor results continue. As Euro 2024 hosts, Germany do not need to qualify, but supporters will expect better performances to boost confidence ahead of the tournament on home soil next summer.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
