Merkel ‘very sad’ over Germany’s World Cup loss to Korea

Chancellor Angela Merkel said that German people are “very sad” over the country’s stunning 2-0 loss to South Korea on Wednesday, as the defending champion got kicked out of the World Cup.

Merkel was quoted as saying, “Honestly, all of us are very sad tonight,” during a conversation with humanoid robot Sophia at a robotics conference, just hours after Germany was defeated by Korea, resulting in its failure to advance to the next round.

Her spokesman Steffen Seibert also expressed disappointment, as he took to Twitter to say, “Not our World Cup -- How sad! There will be other tournaments where we can cheer again.”

In 2014, Merkel traveled to Brazil twice to see the World Cup where her country won the title, but she was not able to attend this year’s match against Korea in the Russian city of Kazan due to her busy schedule.

South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in watched the national squad’s second match in Group F against Mexico at the Rostov Arena in Rostov-on-Don on Sunday. Moon was in Russia for a three-day state visit and became the country’s first leader to watch a national football team match abroad.

By Yim Hyun-su (hyunsu@heraldcorp.com)