Germany 'speechless' after earliest-ever Women's World Cup exit - ESPN

An opening 6-0 win over Morocco makes Germany's earliest exit ever at the Women's World Cup even harder to fathom for a No. 2-ranked team that won't be advancing out of the group.

A 1-1 draw with South Korea in a dramatic end to the group stage Thursday left Germany in third place in Group H behind Colombia and Morocco. In the end, it was Morocco who inflicted the damage with an unexpected win over Colombia in a game being played at the same time but on the other side of the Australian continent.

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When the final whistle blew, the German players lingered on the field in a state of shock.

«We are all very speechless,» German midfielder Lena Oberdorf said. «Things didn't quite click. We didn't really show the combination we can show and we can play.»

It was a surprising 2-1 loss to Colombia this past Sunday that left Germany in the position of needing to win their group stage finale to guarantee they advanced to the knockout round.

The two-time champions had reached the quarterfinals or better at every previous edition of the global women's tournament. But when Morocco took a 1-0 lead over Colombia, it was suddenly make-or-break time and a 1-1 draw simply wouldn't be enough.

Even then, coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg elected to wait to tell the players that another goal was essential.

«We heard at about 85 minutes,» German goalkeeper Merle Frohms said. «Our coach didn't want to make us nervous by telling us at half-time.»

Germany pushed for a late winner and went so close that Alexandra Popp's header hit the crossbar, but didn't find the back of the net.

Despite all their past credentials, the Germans are now painfully aware that the expanded 32-team draw and greater