Germany’s Kai Havertz pulled a 2007 Dirk Nowitzki on Wednesday.
Havertz and Germany were officially eliminated from the 2022 World Cup after their group stage finale against Costa Rica. Though Germany won the match 4-2, they failed to advance out of Group E because Japan, who had upset Germany in their opening match, beat Spain 2-1 to win the group. Germany finished with the same number of points as Spain, but Spain advanced as the runners-up of Group E because they had a better goal difference than Germany.
For his part, the attacking midfielder Havertz had a top-class outing against Costa Rica. He came on as a sub in the 66th minute and scored twice in the span of about 12 minutes to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead for Germany.
Havertz puts Germany back in front of Costa Rica 🇩🇪
🎥: @FOXSoccer | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/NUKa6qFe0j
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) December 1, 2022
Havertz’s heroics were all for naught however since the Germans failed to advance. Afterward, Havertz was selected as Budweiser’s Man of the Match and had an awkward photo session. Havertz looked completely dead inside, obviously knowing full well that his team had been eliminated. Take a look.
Kai Havertz 😐 pic.twitter.com/RivXuGqjiG
— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 1, 2022
Though Germany won it all in 2014, this is now the second straight World Cup in which they have failed to advance past the group stage. On the bright side for Havertz, his goals did actually matter in the grand scheme of things — they ultimately helped Spain advance to the round of 16 instead of Costa Rica (in conjunction with a thrilling match of Spain’s own).
