Unhappy families: Matthäus claims Germany travel plans caused World Cup rift

Former captain says off-pitch ‘unrest’ key to shock defeat

Having relatives there ‘was more important’ than results

Lothar Matthäus, the former Germany captain turned pundit, has blamed the team’s crushing World Cup defeat by Paraguay in part on the players’ dogged efforts to have their families, even parents, in tow, which he said had led to tension within the team and a lack of concentration on the football.

“While there’s a lot that needs to be processed about what happened on the pitch, what happened off the pitch also needs to be a topic of discussion,” Matthäus said.