Germany 'wives and girlfriends' blamed over embarrassing World Cup dubbed 'free family holiday'

Lothar Matthaus, the 65-year-old former Germany national team captain who captained in five World Cups, has blamed the presence of players' wives and girlfriends for Germany's embarrassing early exit from the tournament. He drew parallels to their 1994 quarter-final loss to Bulgaria as reigning champions.

Following Germany's round of 32 exit through the first World Cup penalty shootout loss, Matthaus contended that off-the-pitch matters required examination. "While there's a lot that needs to be processed about what happened on the pitch, what happened off the pitch also needs to be a topic of discussion," he said. "There were documentaries made about this topic in 94 and I don't think it was that different this time round."

Matthaus asserted that family presence undermined players' focus. "I really don't know why they should be there," he stated. "They hadn't even been in America for two weeks and already their entire families were with them. They could have been flown in for the quarter-finals when the team had actually accomplished something."

The former midfielder highlighted tensions arising from inconsistent travel arrangements. "I know that it was a topic of discussion and that one player was cross with another because he was allowed to bring his mum with him," he explained. "Another was allowed to bring his wife then the kids were allowed to fly too." Some players flew on the team plane while others took commercial flights, creating perceived unfairness among the squad.

Matthaus concluded that tournament objectives diminished beside family considerations. "The focus was simply not on the World Cup but on this free day to spend with the family and that free day with the family," he said, suggesting families represented an unwelcome distraction from competitive preparations.