Timo Werner insists Germany can still win the World Cup despite losing the opening game of their title defence 1-0 to Mexico.
Hirving Lozano struck the only goal of the Group F clash, but Mexico wasted numerous chances on the break to record an even larger margin of victory.
Germany, who had won just one of their six friendlies ahead of Russia 2018, looked disjointed for large parts of the game and now face a battle to progress to the knock-out stages.
They face Sweden on Saturday and 22-year-old Werner believes they are more than capable of bouncing back to become the first side to retain the World Cup since Brazil in 1962.
“Of course we can still win the World Cup,” he said.
“We are Germany and we want to win every game, that’s clear. Things like this can happen, you can lose a game, but now you have to get up as quickly as possible and find the best solution.
“It is better to lose the first game than the fourth or fifth. Spain lost their first match in the World Cup in South Africa and ended up being the champions. Now what we have to do is win the next match against Sweden.”
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Germany had little answer to Mexico’s swashbuckling approach and Werner admits they were good value for all three points.
“They played a great game, especially in the first half,” he added.
“They beat us because we made two or three mistakes more than in other past matches. But that’s no excuse, because Mexico is a great team.”
