Dirk Nowitzki's Emotional World Cup Rollercoaster Ends With Germany Loss
There might not be a bigger fan of the German National Team than Dallas Mavericks superstar Dirk Nowitzki.
And as the team struggled this summer at the World Cup in Russia, Nowitzki went through his own emotional rollercoaster for all to see on Twitter.
In their first game of the tournament, Mexico upset the defending World Cup Champions 1-0...and knowing there were still two more games left to qualify to the knockout stages, Nowitzki was rather emotionless in excepting the loss.
https://twitter.com/swish41/status/1008392422093737985
But then came Germany's second match against Sweden, a team that had already made a run through World Cup qualifying knocking out powerhouse countries Italy and the Netherlands...so the German machine had their hands full in a must-win situation.
Tied 1-1 in stoppage time, Toni Kroos nailed a game-winner off of a set piece in the 95th minute (the lastest goal a German team has ever scored in regular time at the World Cup) to give Germany a 2-1 win...and Dirk was elated.
https://twitter.com/swish41/status/1010611754563440643
The win put all four team in the group (Germany, Sweden, Mexico, South Korea) in a situation where multiple outcomes in the final group stage game could advance any of the teams to the knockout rounds.
Germany faced South Korea, who had loss their first two games at the World Cup. After Sweden got a lead over Mexico, Germany had to get a goal to move past El Tri in the standings, but things were knotted up 0-0 with South Korea at halftime...and Nowitzki didn't like it.
https://twitter.com/swish41/status/1011992994537529344
Sweden advanced the scoring to 3-0 over Mexico as the scoreless draw entered the final minutes between Germany and South Korea.
In stoppage time, South Korea scored not one, but two goals to win, leaving the defending champs in last place of Group F and out of the World Cup.
It was the first time in Germany's history that the team failed to advance out of the group stage.
Dirk was devastated.
https://twitter.com/swish41/status/1012002518061154306
Sorry Dirk :(
But hey, on the bright side, not everything was bad this week...remember, you got Luka Doncic to play with you now!
