It may have taken 19 attempts over 71 years, but on Saturday Poland finally made history with a stunning first-ever defeat of world champions Germany in a Euro 2016 qualifier in Warsaw.
Goals from Arkadiusz Milik and substitute Sebastian Mila earned the Poles a shock 2-0 victory and surprise ownership of the Group D summit.
The Republic of Ireland are flying high in second on the strength of a 7-0 drubbing of Gibraltar, with Los Angeles Galaxy striker Robbie Keane firing them into a three-goal lead inside the first 20 minutes in Dublin.
Scotland are placed third ahead of the Germans on goal difference after what manager Gordon Strachan rated their best performance under his watch, a 1-0 win over Georgia at Ibrox.
In other results, Northern Ireland saw off the Faroe Islands 2-0 in Belfast to go top of Group F, while two former European champions, Greece and Denmark, were held to 1-1 draws by Finland and Albania respectively. Serbia needed a last-minute goal to salvage a point in a 1-1 stalemate in Armenia.
However, it was Germany’s shock defeat that stole the headlines.
Ajax striker Milik gave the hosts the lead on 51 minutes, with Mila netting a late second to inflict Germany’s first defeat in a qualifier for seven years.
While Germany will have the chance to put the wheels back on their Euro qualifying campaign against Ireland in Gelsenkirchen tomorrow, Poland will be out to cement their grip on the table against the Scots.
To put the Warsaw upset into perspective, Germany’s last away defeat in a qualifying match was a 3-0 loss against Portugal in June 2000.
And it was at Warsaw’s National Stadium that they had succumbed to Italy in the Euro 2012 semi-final.
The world champions have struggled since winning the World Cup in Brazil in July after being humbled 4-2 by Argentina in an August friendly, then laboring to a 2-1 win over Scotland last month in their opening Euro 2016 qualifier.
With several stars injured — including captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil — Germany coach Joachim Loew handed Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s Karim Bellarabi a start on his debut in a new-look midfield.
The hosts took the lead when Borussia Dortmund’s Lukasz Piszczek finished off a flowing attack and floated an inch-perfect pass over the German defense for Milik to put his header past Manuel Neuer.
Mila settled the matter when he converted Lewandowski’s pass just before the final whistle to the delight of the hosts’ fans.
Earlier, minnows Gibraltar were undone by Keane’s quick-fire hat-trick, a double from James McClean and an own-goal from ’keeper Jordan Perez, with the drubbing completed by Wes Hoolahan.
Keane has now scored 21 goals in European qualifiers, which moves him one ahead of former Turkey striker Hakan Sukur.
In Glasgow, Scotland secured their first Euro 2016 qualifying win courtesy of a deflected Shaun Maloney strike in the 28th minute.
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