Manual Neuer has questioned his Germany team-mates' inability to see out a victory after they threw away a one-goal lead to lose to Japan in their World Cup opener.
Ilkay Gundogan's first-half penalty had put Germany in command of the Group E fixture as they looked on course to record a routine win. But a number of substitutions revitalised Japan in the second half, and Germany were eventually left ruing their failure to add to their lead.
First Ritsu Doan pulled Japan back level on 75 minutes with a close-range finish, before Takuma Asano fired into the roof of the net past Neuer from an acute angle eight minutes later to complete the remarkable turnaround. The result leaves Germany on the brink of elimination from the tournament, with Spain their next opponents.
Speaking after the game, Germany captain Neuer was disappointed with the way his side slipped to defeat and appeared to point blame at their lack of a killer instinct in front of goal. "I'm totally frustrated and upset that we gave up the game," he moaned. "That was more than unnecessary.
"We created a lot of chances to score, so luck and bad luck go hand in hand. The imperative that we wanted to score the second goal was perhaps missing and we brought Japan back into the game.
"After the break, we didn't have that flow of play anymore, didn't play with the self-confidence we had in the first half. It was a bit more difficult because they started higher, but we still have to play well.”
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Neuer's opposite number in the Japan goal, Shuichi Gonda, was in inspired form to keep Germany at bay, pulling off a string of saves with the score at 1-0. Kai Havertz had already seen a goal disallowed for offside, while Jamal Musiala and Joshua Kimmich both fired shots over the crossbar.
Gonda denied Serge Gnabry on three occasions, including a brilliant double save, while the winger also saw his rebound effort stopped after Gonda was equal to Jonas Hofmann's effort. Gnabry later fired wide of the post as you sensed Germany were getting closer.
However, when Gonda was finally beaten, Gundogan's strike clattered back off the foot of the post, before Japan mounted their comeback. It's the second World Cup in succession that Germany have lost their opening game, having been defeated by South Korea in Russia in 2018 when they were the holders of the competition.
Germany were dumped out at the group stage following another defeat to Mexico despite previously beating Sweden with 10 men. Hansi Flick's squad were keen to eradicate that painful memory in Qatar but now need to get a result on Sunday against Spain, who were in rampant form against Costa Rica.
La Roja hit seven goals past their helpless opponents, with Ferran Torres bagging a brace, while Gavi made World Cup history by becoming Spain's youngest goalscorer at the tournament. Goals from Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio, Carlos Soler and Alvaro Morata completed the rout.
