Germany international goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has apologised for his mistake against Kazakhstan in their World Cup qualifier in Nuremberg on Tuesday.

The Bayern Munich keeper was at fault for the visitors' only goal in the match in the second minute of the second half, when he allowed Heinrich Schmidtgal to score after losing the ball while trying to dribble inside his own penalty box.

"You usually don't just hand out presents," ESPN quotes him as saying. "But I did that today and I want to apologise for it.

"That was the initial spark for a bad second half of ours. I will not buy a round of beers tonight. I don't feel like it."

Germany won the Group C qualifier 4-1 and are now eight points clear at the top.