Jonathan Tah stepped up to take a penalty kick against Paraguay—and missed. Following the bitter World Cup exit, the new Bayern Munich signing has now explained why he doesn’t regret his decision for a second.
The German national team’s elimination in the World Cup round of 32 against Paraguay continues to reverberate. The DFB squad fell short in the penalty shootout—and, of all people, Jonathan Tah was among the players who failed to find the back of the net.
After the match, the center back spoke candidly about his missed penalty kick and made it clear that he would make the same decision again in a heartbeat.
“To be honest, I felt good. I wasn’t particularly nervous, even though I had actually expected to be, but I didn’t strike the ball well. I’d try it again next time,” he said.
Tah explained: “I think it’s important to take responsibility in difficult moments. That’s something I had consciously set out to do for this tournament: to take responsibility—and that’s why I did it in that moment.”
Tah took responsibility
The Bayern defender’s missed shot took on added significance after the game. Reportedly, the German team had trouble even finding a sixth penalty taker.
While some players hesitated, Tah volunteered and took responsibility. According to information from BILD, the center back was the first to step up to the difficult task after Joshua Kimmich wanted to determine the order of the remaining takers.
In the end, however, the 29-year-old’s courage wasn’t enough for a happy ending. Germany was eliminated in the Round of 32 after a disappointing performance against Paraguay, thus ending its title run much earlier than hoped.