Hummels grumbles at ‘arrogance’
BAKU — Mats Hummels accused his Germany teammates of arrogance in Sunday’s 4-1 win away to Azerbaijan, which left the defending champion with five straight World Cup qualifying wins.
The Germans surrendered a goal for the first time since July, but still extended their perfect Group C record as Andre Schuerrle bagged a brace.
“We were rather arrogant today, which isn’t nice, and we made life harder for ourselves than it should have been,” Hummels said.
The Bayern Munich defender said too much possession was given away casually and there were sloppy challenges from Germany, which struggled to hit top gear.
First-half goals by Schuerrle, Thomas Mueller and Mario Gomez put Germany ahead 3-1 at the break after Azerbaijan midfielder Dimitrij Nazarov equalized to the delight of the home crowd.
It was the first goal Germany had conceded in seven games — a national team record dating back to a 2-0 Euro 2016 semifinal loss to France.
Schuerrle finished off the host with a late fourth goal.
Germany coach Joachim Loew agreed with Hummels’ appraisal.
“I am satisfied, but there was some negligence. All that glitters is not gold,” said Loew, who steered Germany to the 2014 World Cup title.
“The game we delivered wasn’t up to our standards.”
But after the Netherlands crashed 2-0 against Bulgaria on Saturday, Loew praised his side for shutting the door on Azerbaijan.
“I have to pay our leading players a compliment,” he said.
“Over the past eight to ten years, we have always won against the smaller nations, unlike other countries, who have had their problems in qualifiers. That’s down to the players who lead the team. The basic settings are correct.”
This was Germany’s fifth win in five World Cup qualifiers, leaving it atop Group C with 20 goals scored and just one conceded.
Germany is riding an eightgame unbeaten streak, including friendlies and qualifiers, since last July.
“We have absolutely fulfilled our duty of five (qualifying) games and five wins,” said Loew. “It was a bit like a cup game against a team that plays a league below you.
“If you do not have a full commitment from the beginning, you make them play like they are a league higher.
“You could see we hadn’t been together for four months, and things aren’t happening automatically ... so ultimately we can be satisfied.”