After 47 days, three matches and 44 squad players, Jürgen Klopp has a first win as coach of Germany’s men’s fotball team. A straightforward 2-0 victory over Serbia in the Nations League on Thursday meant the former Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund coach avoided becoming the first Germany boss to win any of his first three games.
“I’m really happy today,” Klopp told German public broadcaster ZDF. “We were outstanding when defending and when we had the ball. We simply played wonderful football.”
Klopp had raised a few eyebrows by naming two squads for the four fixtures in this extended international window. But after a somewhat fortunate draw against the Netherlands and a shock loss to Greece with the more senior of the squads, it was left to those lower down the pecking order to get things going Thursday in Munich.
Bischof gets first goal on home turf
That meant a completely new starting XI and debuts to goalkeeper Jonas Urbig and winger Derry Scherhant. Such players should “develop without the top dogs” Klopp said before the game. And while Urbig was untroubled by Serbia, his Bayern Munich teammate Tom Bischof made his mark by turning in the opener after Florian Wirtz, one of the sprinkling of senior players, hit the post. It was Bischof’s first goal for Germany in only his second national team game.
“It’s indescribable,” said Bischof after the game at Bayern’s Allianz Arena. “The stadium was on fire. I let it all out and was overjoyed.” Unfortunately, he said, “my knees hurt a little from sliding on my knees. But that doesn’t matter.”
After a string of tournament failures, the latest new dawn for Germany comes with a little more patience. As well as Klopp’s track record, there is a general acceptance from inside the country and abroad that Germany are no longer a top tier side.
“We’re not the Bayern Munich of European football,” Klopp said prematch. “We’re a team that needs to find its footing.”
Klopp: ‘I liked everything’
While one win against a limited Serbia side will not change that, the emphatic nature of the performance impressed the new boss.
“I liked everything — the opening phase, the middle section, and the end. Our counter-pressing was off the charts,” said the man whose Gegenpressing (Counter-pressing) tactic became his trademark at Dortmund. “We can afford to take all the liberties and risks we want when we win the ball back together. Everyone was there during our pressing moments.”
The second half brought more debuts for players who may not have made a traditional 26-man squad. Cologne winger Said El Mala and Brentford’s Vitaly Janelt made their Germany bows while Celtic’s Mika Baur became the country’s 1,000th men’s international.
It was “surreal,” Baur said. “Today was a highlight for everyone, not just for me with my debut.”
Wirtz provides spark and hope
While Klopp may have seen enough from a few of the second string to afford them opportunities in the future, the performance of Liverpool midfielder Wirtz, who scored Germany’s second goal, may be the most critical of the night.
Wirtz, 23, has struggled to find his best form in the Premier League and has blown hot and cold in his 47 caps for Germany. A cool and composed finish suggested that the player who was so highly regarded at Bayer Leverkusen can be coaxed to life by Klopp.
“It was loads of fun. Every single one of us gave it our all on the field. We stuck to the game plan and did almost everything right,” said Wirtz, who took the captain’s armband later in the game. “The players around me made it easy for me. We had a lot of movement in the middle. We were all fired up.”
The challenge now for Klopp is to work out which of his wide pool of players are the ones he can rely on to take Germany to Euro 2028 and beyond. The next step is a chance for revenge against Greece in Thessaloniki on Sunday.
Edited by: Sean Sinico
