Losing the Champions League final to Real Madrid was a bitter pill to swallow for the Liverpool fans. We lost Mohamed Salah to a terrible injury which was followed by two major blunders by Loris Karius which effectively gifted the trophy to Los Blancos for the 3rd consecutive time.
It is understandable for the fans to be upset with Karius’ lacklustre display and the goalkeeper seemed to understand the magnitude of his errors as he was inconsolable after the final whistle.
In tears, he approached the travelling Liverpool fans and asked for forgiveness. While a lot of us empathised with him at that moment, it looks like former Reds icon Dietmar Hamann is not pleased.
In an exclusive interview with Sport Bild, Hamann expressed his opinions about the incident and as quoted by Liverpool Echo, he said:
“My sympathy with Karius is limited. We don’t have to discuss that he decided the final with his two mistakes.
“Something like that can also happen to a professional footballer. But what I didn’t like was his behaviour afterwards.
“To publicly show his suffering after the final whistle was just as unnecessary as his tearful asking for forgiveness from the Reds fans.”
Hamann also was of the opinion that Karius perhaps needs to tone down his ego. He goes on to state that Karius has not won any major trophies yet and he should be happy to have received such an opportunity at a club like Liverpool.
Though Hamann’s words are all true, it can be argued that Karius’ reaction was a normal human emotion. He is, after all, a 24-year-old goalkeeper who had just squandered away a brilliant chance for Liverpool to win the Champions League and in a situation like that, one really does not have control over what they say or how they react.
The incident will affect Karius’ career and it remains to be seen how he fights through it. Nevertheless, Hamann’s words seem to be a tad too harsh.
