Former Germany captain Lothar Matthaus has claimed team disputes caused by players' wives and girlfriends contributed to their shock World Cup exit.Germany were beaten 4-3 on penalties by Paraguay in the last-32, after being held to a 1-1 draw in Boston.Matthaus, who captained Germany to World Cup glory in 1990, drew the comparison to his experience four years later in the United States.The BILD pundit claimed players in 1994 had been distracted by trying to have their families with them throughout the tournament, potentially contributing to their quarter-final loss to Bulgaria.Matthaus suggested a similar situation had occurred with the current Germany squad, with travel arrangements having become an issue behind the scenes.'There were documentaries [made] about this topic in ’94 [and] I don’t think it was that different this time round,' Matthaus said. Former Germany captain Lothar Matthaus claimed players' girlfriends and wives contributed to their shock World Cup exit - pictured: Kai and Sophia Havertz Matthaus claimed disputes had emerged behind the scenes over the travel arrangements of family members - pictured: Manuel Neue's wife Anika Matthaus drew the comparison to issues his Germany squad suffered at the 1994 World Cup in the United States'There's a lot to process, both on and off the pitch. Wives, families, everyone was involved. Lots of headlines. 'I don't know why you have to involve all the families right from the start.'Then it's about travel options, about hotel bookings. That was all a topic within the team. It never appeared in the media, but I know it was a topic of discussion.'One player was angry with another because one player's mother was allowed to fly along, while another's wife and children were allowed to fly. The others had to take a commercial flight.' Matthaus, who did not name anyone involved, suggested serious consideration needs to be made into the handling of families at future tournaments.He suggested families should be flown out by the national team at the latter stages of tournaments when the team have enjoyed success, after claiming girlfriends and wives had treated this World Cup as 'free family days'.'Ultimately, there was a lot of unrest, which didn't come across,' Matthaus said.'But despite all that, the focus simply wasn't on this World Cup. It was always a free family day and another free family day.