A Germany exit will be a disaster times 10: Klinsmann

Germany are, right now, in a difficult position and might be knocked out of the FIFA World Cup for the second time in a row if they cannot produce a huge result tonight against Costa Rica. 

Former Germany player and manager Jurgen Klinsmann stated that if Germany exit from the group stages, it would be a disaster times 10 for the team.

"We made a huge, huge mistake in the first game. No-one expected us to lose to a very strong Japan team. We allowed ourselves to come home from Russia with a catastrophic performance, so the expectations were clear for the German fans, they would at least go through," Klinsmann told BBC.

"We always would say we want to win the World Cup, but this time semi-finals would be a tremendous achievement. We are talking about maybe exiting after the group stage, so you can call it a disaster times 10 instead of a simple disaster."

"Part of our culture was always to be able to focus when it really matters," Klinsmann added.

"Qualifying was never an issue for us, and at the tournament we always found a way to go through and at least shoot for the semi-finals.

"People forgive you for a bad result - but two times in a row, that would be really, really bad."

Klinsmann said that he is confident about Germany making the last-16 but went on to say that he doesn't expect them to be the champions. 

"The goal is huge for Germany. I am very confident that Spain will get the job done against Japan and that Germany will get through to the next round."

"I would be surprised if Germany are challenging for the trophy though. It would be huge if they could get to the semi-finals, but I think challenging for the trophy is reserved for other teams," said Klinsmann.