Chelsea forward Timo Werner was guilty of another glaring miss as Germany suffered a first defeat in World Cup qualifying for 20 years as Joachim Low’s beleaguered team lost to minnows North Macedonia.
Enduring a torrid season in front of goal for club team Chelsea, the international arena failed to offer any respite for Werner as he contrived to miss a golden opportunity to put Germany in front with 10 minutes remaining in their Group J qualifier in Duisburg on Wednesday night.
After good work from Ilkay Gundogan on the left flank, second-half substitute Werner was presented with a gift-wrapped opportunity to put his team ahead but horribly fluffed his effort, skewing the ball tamely wide of the target.
The disbelief was palpable as Werner squatted down on all fours and Gundogan held his head in his hands, while even a number of Macedonia players seemed stunned that the Chelsea forward had shanked his effort so spectacularly.
The barely-believable miss prompted an online pile-on for the luckless forward, who has endured lengthy goal droughts for Chelsea this season and is goalless in his last four appearances for Die Mannschaft – although in mitigation is used more sparingly as a substitute by German boss Low.
The stats men pointed out that it was a first World Cup qualifying defeat for Germany in 35 matches, since they were famously humbled 5-1 by England in Munich back in September of 2001.
In contrast, it was a famous victory for North Macedonia, who had initially taken the lead in first-half injury time through the 37-year-old Goran Pandev.
Gundogan leveled from the penalty spot for the hosts in the 63rd minute, but after Werner’s remarkable miss, the visitors made them pay when Eljif Elmas turned the ball home with just five minutes of normal time remaining.
The defeat came in what will be Germany boss Low’s final World Cup qualifier, as the veteran coach is set to depart his role after the European Championships this summer.
“This is bitterly disappointing,” Low said after the shock loss. “We weren’t fresh enough, we made mistakes. When we played quickly we were dangerous but we did not find the tools to be really threatening.”
Manchester City midfielder Gundogan was equally scathing in his assessment, saying: “We cannot allow that to happen.
“North Macedonia were more or less in our box twice and we made it easy for them. We tried to work chances, but we only managed to score once. The way we conceded both goals was poor.”
Germany had enjoyed 70% possession on the night and mustered 11 shots – but just two of those were on target, one fewer than Macedonia managed.
The result leaves the 2014 World Cup winners third on six points in the Group J qualifying table, behind Armenia – who sit top with 9 points – and their North Macedonia conquerors, who also have six points but a superior goal difference.
Werner, meanwhile, will hope to ease some of his pain when he returns to Chelsea, who travel to West Brom in the Premier League this Saturday as the Blues look to continue their top-four push.
In consolation, the 25-year-old forward will be welcomed back by at least one fan, who wrote: "Funniest thing is this Chelsea team functions 10x better when Werner starts."