Joachim Low’s side were amongst the pre-tournament favourites, but, despite dominating in the first half against France, they fell behind to an Antoine Griezmann penalty before the same player made it 2-0 in the second period to knock the world champions out.
Neuer was at fault for Griezmann’s second goal as he made a rare error by diverting the ball into the path of the France attacker.
As reported by BBC Sport, Neuer said: “It is a semi-final, there are no worse moments than losing these games.
“I don’t want to say that we were the better side but 2-0 was not a fair result.
“Of course the penalty was crucial but we had a whole half to equalise. We had chances but couldn’t take them. France took their chances.
“It would have been a catastrophe to play badly here but it’s been a good tournament for us.”
Neuer made some impressive stops during the tournament, registering an average of 2.33 saves per game, but on Thursday he was unable to thwart Greizmann, who has been excellent in recent matches.
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As there is no third place play-off fixture at this tournament, Germany will now head home and will be hugely frustrated that they weren’t able to follow up their World Cup success of 2014 by winning the European Championship.
Despite his struggles against France, Neuer remains the standout goalkeeper in world football and he will now switch his focus back to his club commitments with Bayern Munich, where he will be working under new manager Carlo Ancelotti following the departure of Pep Guardiola.
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