Toni Kroos insists Germany have no room for error

Germany international Toni Kroos has stressed that the reigning champions have no room for error following the 1-0 defeat to Mexico in their opening game of the World Cup. Joachim Loew’s side were widely tipped to start their World Cup defence with a win but they were caught short at the back by a hard-working Mexico side.

As such, the pressure has begun mounting on Germany and Kroos believes the nation must secure six points from their remaining games to have any chance of topping the group, he said: “We're under real pressure now. We have to get six points from the next games.We didn't play well enough. Overall, we had our chances, but we weren't able to score.We lost the ball up front far too easily and Mexico had always two or three people up front, who we failed to block efficiently.”

Meanwhile, defender Mats Hummels was equally disappointed with the country’s start to the global tournament and admitted that they could not find the right balance between attack and defence, he said: “If seven or eight players attack, it's clear the offensive force is greater than the defensive stability.”

With the Mexico defeat, Germany have now suffered losses in three of the previous four games and there are now facing must-win games against Sweden and South Korea. Regardless of both results, they could still be dependent on Mexico to finalise their group position and being second in the standings may witness them clash with Brazil at the round of 16 stage.

Like Germany, Brazil started off their World Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw against Switzerland but they remain the bookies favourites to secure the global crown. In this regard, they are pretty much the last side Germany would want to face in their current run of form and it will be interesting to see how their World Cup fate transforms in the coming weeks.