Greece Shock Germany as Jurgen Klopp Suffers First Defeat

Sports Correspondent: Imran Sohail

MUNICH: Greece handed Jurgen Klopp his first defeat as Germany manager with a historic 1-0 victory in Augsburg on Sunday.

Dimitrios Kourbelis scored the decisive goal in the 74th minute as Greece secured their first-ever win over Germany.

Germany had most of the possession during the match but struggled to create clear opportunities in attack. The hosts also failed to reproduce the intensity they showed in Klopp’s first match in charge, a 1-1 draw away to the Netherlands.

Klopp’s team controlled much of the opening period but found it difficult to break through a well-organised Greek defence.

Barcelona forward Karim Adeyemi came close before the interval after making a strong run behind the Greek defence, but his effort went just over the crossbar.

Hoffenheim forward Bambase Conte, who was given a surprise starting role, also tested Greece’s goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis. Conte later forced another save after the break.

Greece gradually became more dangerous on the counter-attack as Germany continued to dominate possession without creating enough chances.

Fotis Ioannidis missed a major opportunity to put Greece ahead when he shot wide with only goalkeeper Alexander Nuebel to beat.

The visitors finally broke the deadlock shortly afterwards. Kourbelis’s low effort took a deflection off Germany captain Joshua Kimmich before finding the bottom corner.

Germany were unable to find an equaliser as Greece defended their advantage until the final whistle.

Klopp said the defeat was part of the learning process for his new-look Germany side and that the team needed to take the right lessons from the result.

The 59-year-old took charge in July after Germany suffered another early exit from the World Cup in North America, extending their run of disappointing tournament results.

Klopp has been using his early matches to assess his options, with 16 uncapped players included in his 44-man squad.

Germany captain Kimmich said the players understood what their new coach expected from them and needed to translate those instructions into performances on the field.

Greece’s victory ended a long wait against Germany. Before Sunday’s match, Greece had recorded three draws and seven defeats in their previous meetings with Germany dating back to 1960.