Germany only had themselves to blame for a late mental lapse that led to Ireland’s stoppage-time equalizer on Tuesday, with coach Joachim Loew frustrated by a “naive” end to a match the Mannschaft had dominated.
Loew had no doubt imagined a completely different outcome to the two Euro 2016 qualifiers played over the oast week by a side still basking in the glory of lifting the FIFA World Cup in Brazil just three months ago.
However, a 2-0 shock defeat in Poland on Saturday and a surprise 1-1 draw at home in Gelsenkirchen left Germany languishing third in Group D.
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“I don’t have a clear explanation of what happened in the final minutes,” Loew said. “We were naive. We did not control the ball.”
The last time Germany failed to win at least one match out of two consecutive qualifiers was shortly after Loew took over in 2007.
The Ireland game followed a familiar pattern as Saturday’s, with the hosts enjoying 65 percent possession and playing most of the game in the Irish half, wasting attack after attack.
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Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos looked to have finally given the hosts a hard-earned three points when he fired home in the 71st minute, but Germany lacked composure late on and allowed the Irish side to grow in confidence.
“It is just incomprehensible what happened,” Kroos said. “We just completely lost our game in those final minutes.”
Instead of keeping possession, they opted for long, speculative clearances that were easily picked up by Ireland, who were rewarded for their resilience when John O’Shea, on his 100th appearance, slipped in the equalizer.
In Loew’s defense, it could be argued that he was forced to field a weakened team with Bastian Schweinsteiger, Marco Reus, Mesut Ozil, Andre Schuerrle and Sami Khedira among a host of players missing through injury or illness. Yet the inability to convert chances in both qualifiers seems far less an issue than a defense that looks a shadow of the World Cup-winning rearguard, with the absence of retired rightback Philipp Lahm.
Poland had similar disappointment on Tuesday after their fairy-tale triumph over Germany was quickly overtaken by a touch of anti-climax in Warsaw as they were held 2-2 by Scotland.
A hyped up crowd had expected more of the same from their new heroes in the National Stadium, but had to watch them come from behind to earn a point with a 76th-minute goal from Arkadiusz Milik.
In the dying minutes, Poland poured forward and another memorable triumph looked on the cards as Kamil Grosicki hit the post and Robert Lewandowski forced a terrific save from David Marshall.
Yet Scotland held on stoutly, once again looking like a rejuvenated side under Gordon Strachan’s stewardship.
The manner in which they rebounded from the early setback of Krzysztof Maczynski’s 11th-minute goal, scoring twice through Shaun Maloney and Steven Naismith and counterattacking bodes well for the rest of their campaign.
The result means Poland are top of Group D from Ireland on goal-difference, with Scotland and Germany three points back, while Georgia on Tuesday beat Gibraltar 3-0 to record their first points.
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