Germany legend Bastian Schweinsteiger criticised his country's current squad as 'mediocre' after Greece secured a historic 1-0 victory in Augsburg, their first ever win over Germany. Dimitrios Kourbelis scored the only goal, handing Jurgen Klopp an early setback in his new role as Germany boss.
Schweinsteiger's blunt assessment
Schweinsteiger, who earned 121 caps and won the 2014 World Cup, did not hold back in his evaluation of the team. 'We are no longer a top team. We've reached mediocrity. We no longer have those players. We have to get away from that,' said the former Manchester United and Bayern Munich midfielder.
He pointed to Arsenal's summer signing Christos Tzolis, Borussia Dortmund's Konstantinos Karetsas, and Benfica's Vangelis Pavlidis as players who can influence games more than anything Germany currently offers. 'Those who make the difference. If you look at Greece today, if you take Karetsas or Tzolis or Pavlidis up front, those were difference-makers for me. And for the Greeks today too. And we just don't have them,' he said.
Klopp's response and process
Klopp, who named 44 players across two squads for the four games of the current international break, acknowledged the loss was 'not cool' but insisted it was part of his process. 'I could have lived with us not winning but you cannot lose such a game,' Klopp said. 'We have been together for a week now, all mixed together, and that needs time. The result is not cool but it is absolutely part of the process.'
This was Klopp's second game in charge, following a 1-1 draw with Netherlands in Amsterdam on Thursday. The former Liverpool manager also addressed critics, saying: 'This is the path we're taking now. And while we're on that path, I would personally appreciate it if people didn't make final judgments about the players and say, "He can't do this, he can't do that, he can't do this either." If you want to vent your frustration at someone, then do it at me.'
Tzolis celebrates Greek resilience
Tzolis was in high spirits after the win, which followed Greece's victory against Serbia last week. 'It feels amazing,' he said. 'That's two away games with two wins against very difficult opponents of high quality, especially today. I'm very happy for everybody, including the way we stuck together. It was a great performance – not the best with the ball, but great team spirit.'
He added: 'Germany were in control, but we didn't lose our minds. Everybody was making runs; we stuck with our positions, and we knew that we were going to have some chances. We missed a big opportunity before the goal, but we knew that we were going to have another one.'
