Signs of Germany's decline have long been evident

Germany should really not be surprised by their earliest World Cup exit in 80 years. The four-time winners should have seen the red flags and heeded the warnings after failing to hit top form for almost a year prior to this tournament.

But a combination of over-confidence, stubbornness, and recklessness turned into a toxic mix in their Group F matches to send them packing in the first round with just one win from three games.

What was once a scoring machine, playing indomitable attacking football, was reduced in Russia to a scrappy motley crew, lacking unity and unable to operate as a team.