Germany's World Cup Loss: 'Incredibly Shocking, But Not at All Surprising'
*By Christian Smith*
Germany's hopes of winning a second consecutive World Cup were dashed Wednesday in a shocking stoppage-time loss to South Korea.
Korean defender Kim Young-gwon and striker Son Heung-min both scored in the game's ten minutes of injury time. The upset shocked soccer fans all around the world, but not everyone was surprised.
"Germany is a fantastic team, and they've never been knocked out this early in a World Cup," said Jeffrey Marcus, publisher of the World Cup newsletter jointhebanter.com. "It's not surprising because Germany is actually the fourth defending World Cup champion to be knocked out in the first round in the past five tournaments."
France won it all in 1998 but failed to make it to the Round of 16 four years later. Italy faced that same fate after its 2006 World Cup win, as did the 2010 champion, Spain.
Brazil is the only one of the last five World Cup winners to make it out of the tournament's group stage following its win in 2002.
Germany's loss means that Sweden and Mexico will advance to the Round of 16. Sweden topped Group F thanks to a resounding 3-0 win over *El Tri*.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/defending-world-cup-champs-germany-fail-to-make-round-of-16)
Shohei Ohtani's jaw-dropping deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers has some similarities to other contracts for the world's biggest sports stars, including soccer icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, along with NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes. But in terms of his marketability, experts point to another name. The real comparison? Try Taylor Swift.
The police department in the remote north woods Minnesota town of Ely faces the same challenges of recruiting and keeping new officers as countless other law enforcement agencies across the country. So it's offering a unique incentive: canoes.
President Joe Biden told a gathering of Native American nations that he would support the bid by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, which invented lacrosse, to compete in the sport under its own flag in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
NCAA President Charlie Baker announced Tuesday that he wants the organization to create a new tier of Division I athletics where schools with the most resources can offer unlimited educational benefits, enter into name, image and likeness partnerships with athletes and directly pay them through a trust fund.
A men’s World Cup super-G was called off Sunday due to strong wind as weather led to the cancellation of all three ski races over the weekend in Beaver Creek, Colorado.
