Roberto Martínez would do well to heed Germany's warning

Jurgen Klopp, German coach, on the German national team's World Cup elimination

Germany has already packed its bags, marking the third consecutive World Cup where the Mannschaft disappointed — in 2018 and 2022, they didn't even make it past the group stage.

This time, they managed to progress, with a thrashing of Curaçao, arguably the weakest team in this World Cup, and a last-gasp victory over Ivory Coast. However, they then lost to Ecuador and were knocked out in the Round of 16 by Paraguay, falling in a penalty shootout.

Did they dominate? Of course, they dominated. They had more shots and created more dangerous opportunities. But let's not be fooled by those statistics.

As Jurgen Klopp says, there are 500,000 ways to win a game; you just need to find one. Paraguay found theirs, through penalties. Germany had 21 shots in 120 minutes, 14 more than the South Americans, but in terms of big chances and goals, they were level.

And Germany's warning should be heeded by Portugal (who scored five goals against Uzbekistan, one against DR Congo right at the start, and none against Colombia), especially for their upcoming match against Croatia.

Roberto Martínez seems to believe that the national team's performance against DR Congo is an example of what to do: ball control, balance, patience, instead of the unrestrained chaos of the game against Colombia.

I understand the idea, but the rest is missing: creating more chances and scoring. France doesn't lose its balance, yet it still finds it easy to reach the opponent's goal; the two are not incompatible.