Klopp celebrates his first win as Germany boss
Germany earned its first victory under Jurgen Klopp, as goals from Tom Bischof and Florian Wirtz secured a 2-0 UEFA Nations League win over Serbia in Munich on Thursday.
The victory came at the third attempt for Klopp, after Germany opened its campaign with a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands before suffering a 1-0 defeat to Greece.
Klopp reshaped his starting lineup, handing senior debuts to goalkeeper Jonas Urbig and forward Derry Scherhant. Serge Gnabry captained the team in Joshua Kimmich's absence.
"That's going in my archive. We'll make a video out of it now," Klopp said. "That's how we want to play."
Germany controlled the game from the outset. Aleksandar Pavlovic narrowly missed from the edge of the area before Gnabry fired wide and was later denied by Serbian keeper Djordje Petrovic.
Serbia created its best opening of the first half in the 32nd minute, when Filip Kostic delivered toward Kosta Nedeljkovic, who narrowly failed to connect at the far post.
Germany broke through seven minutes later. Wirtz struck the post from inside the area, and Bischof reacted quickest to the rebound, firing home from close range.
"It was important to win again, just for the spirit in the team, and to send a signal out that we're good football players, and also a good football nation," Wirtz said. "Definitely a step in the right direction."
Said El Mala replaced Gnabry at halftime for his Germany debut, with Wirtz taking the captain's armband.
El Mala and Nick Woltemade both went close after the restart, before Wirtz doubled the German advantage in the 61st minute. Maximilian Mittelstadt picked out the midfielder, who controlled the ball, moved beyond Srdjan Babic and finished into the right side of the net.
"The fans were fully behind us. We had a lot of chances and could have scored more goals and made life easier for ourselves," Bischof said.
"I liked everything about it," Klopp said.
"Everyone was there in our pressing moments, we were outstanding without the ball and played some really good football with it. I'm really happy with the performance."
Greece leads Group A2 with seven points after three rounds, followed by the Netherlands on five and Germany on four. Serbia remains bottom without a point. Germany travels to Thessaloniki to face Greece on Oct 4, while Serbia visits the Netherlands.
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