Germany’s Joachim Low and Ilkay Gundogan had their say about Timo Werner’s open miss during their embarrassing 2-1 defeat to North Macedonia.
The 25-year-old did not even start the game, but he stole the spotlight after missing an open goal that could have been the match-winner.
At that point, the score was still 1-1 when Gundogan made a good run and put the goalscoring opportunity on a plate for the Chelsea forward.
Werner, unfortunately, somehow failed to score — and they eventually conceded another goal just five minutes before full time.
Speaking after the game, Gundogan did not even seem angry at Werner.
“I’m sorry for Timo,” the Manchester City star told RTL (via Sport1).
“He’s the one who wants to score the most.”
Germany boss Low, on the other hand, said Werner’s missing the opportunity had a big impact on the team.
“Timo normally has to [score] that, no question about it,” he explained.
“He didn’t hit the ball properly. If he hit it cleanly, it’s a goal.
“He probably blames himself the most.
“It was a blow for the team that we missed the chance. We have to point that out and talk about it.”
Chronicle view
While it did not have any direct impact on Chelsea, Werner’s heading back to London with a lack of confidence is the last thing that the club would want.
Unfortunately, this has not only been the case on international football, since Werner has also missed second-most big chances in the Premier League this season (16 – via Premier League’s official website).
On a more positive note, he has been getting into dangerous positions to have these big chances in the first place — and he can always improve his finishing.
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