Greece achieved a historic 1-0 victory against Germany in Augsburg and spoiled Jürgen Klopp's first home match in charge of the Bundesliga. Dimitrios Kourbelis scored the only goal in the 74th minute after his shot deflected off a German defender. The success is Greece's first against Germany in the history of the rivalry, and Ivan Jovanovic's team topped Group A2 with six points from two matches.
The Germans had more possession and tried to apply pressure, but struggled to find space against the compact Greek defense. Karim Adeyemi missed the best chance for the hosts in the first half, and goalkeeper Konstantinos Tsolakis saved shots from Adeyemi and Joshua Kimmich. After the break, Felix Ioannidis missed a chance for Greece before Kourbelis secured the win. UEFA noted that the Greeks had never beaten Germany in the previous ten meetings between the two teams.
Klopp takes responsibility
“We shouldn't have lost this game“, said Klopp after the match. The German coach took responsibility for the starting lineup and substitutions and admitted that the team had not played physically enough. He said Germany had struggled against an opponent who defended deeply and that it would take time and training to build the necessary synergies.
“It wasn't a good performance. We were too static and lacked ideas going forward“, said captain Joshua Kimmich. Defender Jonathan Ta also assessed the game as insufficient, while goalkeeper Alexander Nubel pointed out that the hosts created too few chances in the penalty area.
Greece celebrates first success
“The victory feels great. The first success against Germany makes us very happy“, said Christos Tsolis. He added that the Greek team knew that the hosts would make mistakes, and should have used their few opportunities.
Ivan Jovanovic described the victory as “huge“ for Greek football and its future. In Greece, the media emphasized the historic nature of the success, the goal of Kurbelis and the saves of Tsolakis. “EFT“ described the triumph as a historic success in Augsburg, and “Gazeta“ noted that after the final whistle, Greek players and fans celebrated together.
In Germany, the tone was significantly more critical. “Bild“ titled its commentary with the definition “football dwarf“ for Greece, which stopped Klopp in his home debut. “Sportschau“ also emphasized the lack of breakthrough and defined the loss as a postponed expectation of change around the national team.
A new clash is coming
Germany will seek a first victory against Serbia on October 1. On the same day, Greece will host the Netherlands. Four days later, the two teams will meet again, this time in Athens. After the first two rounds, Greece has six points, the Netherlands has three, Germany has one, and Serbia is also winless.
Sources: Sportschau, EFT, Gazeta