While defender Jonathan Tah missed his decisive kick over the bar, a widely circulated video of the shootout sparked a wave of anger across Germany over the behavior of several senior players.
The footage shows captain Joshua Kimmich struggling to find a volunteer to take the sixth kick after the first five takers, leaving the midfielder looking alone on the pitch although goalkeeper Manuel Neuer kept the German hopes alive by saving two successive kicks.
According to the German media outlet “Fox Online”, Kimmich initially approached 23-year-old full-back Nathaniel Brown, before stepping back and telling the Eintracht Frankfurt defender that he would take the eighth kick, to which Brown nodded in agreement.
Kimmich then turned to his veteran Bayern Munich teammate Leon Goretzka, asking: Um Leon, are you the one who will shoot? In the absence of enthusiasm and a silent refusal from the 31-year-old midfielder, Kimmich backed down and told him that he would take the ninth kick.
Likewise, centre-backs Waldemar Anton and Malik Thiao failed to step up to challenge Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gil, forcing Tah to take his first career penalty kick.
