Julian Nagelsmann should resign as Germany coach after the team's early World Cup exit without a severance fee, former national team captain Lothar Matthäus has said.
"I don't know why Julian Nagelsmann doesn't have the character to realize that he has no future with this team," the 1990 World Cup winner Matthäus told the Bild paper.
"A matter of character is saying: 'I didn't succeed. The [national federation] DFB trusted me. I disappointed the fans, I disappointed the players, I resign.'
"That would be the manly thing to say now: 'That's it!' And I would focus as little as possible on a huge severance payment, but instead try to work through everything and do better in the future."
Germany went out in the first knock-out game, the round of 32, on Monday, losing on penalties against Paraguay.
Nagelsmann has been national team coach since 2023 and has a contract until 2028. If he is sacked he would be entitled to a severance payment of reportedly several million euros.
Bild reported that DFB leaders met with Nagelsmann on Thursday in Frankfurt and asked him to resign. Nagelsmann reportedly has asked for time to consider this but the Frankfurter Rundschau paper said a decision is expected before the weekend.
Matthäus said that Nagelsmann had made major communication mistakes before the tournament and tactical errors during the World Cup matches.
Pierre Littbarski, another member of the 1990 squad, agreed with Matthäus, telling Bild: "If Nagelsmann had any guts he would have resigned immediately after the elimination. That would have been a positive thing to come out of this disaster."
