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Julian Nagelsmann rages at reporter after Germany's World Cup exit, calls disallowed goal an 'absolute scandal'
While Julian Nagelsmann admitted Germany were far from their best, he had little sympathy for the officiating.
Germany's disastrous World Cup campaign came to a shocking end in the Round of 32 after a defeat to Paraguay, with head coach Julian Nagelsmann left furious over Jonathan Tah's disallowed extra-time goal, branding the VAR intervention a "scandal" before losing patience during a post-match television interview.
Paraguay took the lead in the closing stages of the first half through Julio Enciso, but Kai Havertz restored parity nine minutes into the second period. Germany thought they had found the winner in extra time when Tah headed home from a corner, only for VAR to intervene and rule the goal out after an on-field review.
While Nagelsmann admitted Germany were far from their best, he had little sympathy for the officiating.
"We had very slow build-up play; it took ages to switch the ball from one wing to the other," Nagelsmann told ZDF after the match. "At some point, we switched to a more direct approach, and then it became important to deliver quality balls into the box.
"At one stage, I think we had six or seven players over 6ft 2in on the pitch and won 11 or 12 corners. Then we score from one of them, and it's a scandal that the referee disallows it. I have no idea what he saw there. It's truly a joke.
"But that's football. There's no point dwelling on it. We still had to manage the game much better before that moment, and we didn't."
Nagelsmann was then shown the replay of the incident during the interview and he maintained his stance, saying" "I'm seeing it again right now. It's not just a scandal, it's an absolute scandal. That is not even remotely a foul play."
Why was Germany's goal disallowed?
Germany believed they had completed the comeback when Tah powered home Nathaniel Brown's corner during the first period of extra time.
However, the Video Assistant Referee recommended an on-field review after spotting a challenge by Anton on Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill inside the six-yard box. The VAR concluded that the contact had prevented Gill from making a legitimate attempt to save the header. After reviewing the footage, the referee agreed and ruled the goal out for a foul.
Nagelsmann loses patience
The Germany coach's frustration carried into his post-match media duties.
When asked whether Germany's performances had declined dramatically after their emphatic 7-1 victory over Curacao earlier in the tournament, Nagelsmann visibly lost his temper with the repeated line of questioning.
"Yes, as I already said, our build-up play today was simply too slow," he replied. "Yes, I just told you. The build-up play was too slow. I've already said that three times now."
