Joachim Loew Comments On Mesut Ozil's Performance For Germany At World Cup 2018 Following Shock Exit

Ozil was involved in a spat with furious supporters at full-time but Joachim Loew refused to pin the blame on the Arsenal midfielder after Germany suffered their darkest day at the World Cup.

The Reigning champions Germany were eliminated from the tournament after a shock 2-0 defeat to South Korea, consigning them to bottom spot in Group F.

Fans were not happy with Ozil's lacklustre performance - and the Arsenal man exchanged furious words with supporters as he made his way down the tunnel.

But Loew was reluctant to pin any of the blame on Ozil for his team's capitulation.

He said:

"It wasn't only Ozil, a number of other players didn't perform as they normally would. I take responsibility for that and stand up for that, but I thought it was a good team. 

"I didn't think Thomas Muller had been that convincing in the first two matches and I wanted to make a point there [by dropping him]. 

"Towards the finish when we realised we needed a goal we took a defender out late on and that meant we became less structured, but we couldn't wait, we had to risk. 

"We needed to throw things forward and it opened things up in defence."

Germany's players were left distraught when the full-time whistle blew against Korea - with many trudging off with their heads in their hands.

Fans close to the tunnel area vented their anger at the players.

Midfielder Ozil, 29, hit back at a small section of the vocal abuse, causing him to be restrained by another member of the German backroom staff.

A German coach is also seen shouting back towards the fans, who are being restrained by stewards on the nearly steps.