Journal De Bruxelles - Greece stun Klopp's Germany as Ireland show sorrow for Gaza

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Greece stun Klopp's Germany as Ireland show sorrow for Gaza
Greece stun Klopp's Germany as Ireland show sorrow for Gaza / Photo: Michaela STACHE - AFP

Greece stun Klopp's Germany as Ireland show sorrow for Gaza

Substitute Dimitrios Kourbelis gave Greece a shock 1-0 Nations League win away to Germany on Sunday as Ireland's players wore black armbands for their match against Israel.

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Portugal coach Jorge Jesus dropped Cristiano Ronaldo and was rewarded as his replacement Goncalo Ramos scored the winner in a 2-1 success away to Norway.

Jurgen Klopp was made to wait for his maiden victory in charge of an ineffective Germany as Kourbelis's deflected second-half strike settled the game in Augsburg.

The former Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund boss had made five changes to his team which drew 1-1 with the Netherlands on Thursday as he sought to give more of his players a chance to impress him.

Although midfielder Bambase Conte had an impressive debut and Germany dominated possession, they rarely threatened Konstantinos Tzolakis's goal.

Ireland's players came out wearing black armbands for their match with Israel in Hungary which almost did not take place due to heavy pressure back in Ireland on the team to boycott the game over the war in Gaza.

Only a player vote in midweek allowed the game to go ahead.

Ireland has long been a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause and the players bowed their heads as the Israeli anthem was played before the match.

The teams skipped the traditional pre-match handshakes and did not exchange pennants either in a near-empty stadium in Debrecen.

Troy Parrott made a heart sign with his hands after opening the scoring on 14 minutes, while Jack Moylan kissed the Irish badge on his jersey and his black armband after netting the third goal 25 minutes in.

Ireland won the game 3-0 but Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused them of being "on the wrong side of history" over the players' actions.

In Oslo, Joao Felix gave Portugal a 17th-minute lead as an unusually profligate Erling Haaland squandered a succession of chances.

He did eventually equalise for the hosts six minutes into the second half, but almost immediately, goalkeeper Orjan Nyland gifted Ramos a simple finish for the winner.

- Meerdink brace gives Xavi win -

The Netherlands gave Xavi Hernandez his first win as head coach as Mexx Meerdink's brace earned a 2-1 success over Serbia in Belgrade.

The Oranje turned to Barcelona great Xavi after a disappointing World Cup last-32 exit at the hands of Morocco.

But Xavi's men forged ahead on the half-hour mark as AZ Alkmaar striker Meerdink drilled in a penalty to score his first international goal after Aleksa Terzic fouled Crysencio Summerville.

Serbia coach Veljko Paunovic brought on striker Luka Jovic at half-time and the change paid off almost immediately, as the former Real Madrid man turned the ball in following a goalmouth scramble less than a minute after the restart.

But the visitors reclaimed the lead in the 69th minute as Meerdink, who made his Netherlands debut against Germany, fired a left-footed shot into the bottom corner after being played in by substitute Guus Til.

Denmark bounced back from Thursday's dramatic loss to Norway by seeing off Wales 2-0 in Copenhagen in Group A4.

The Scandinavians, who missed out on the World Cup with a penalty shoot-out defeat by the Czech Republic in the play-offs, have now won their last four meetings with Wales.

Home forward Gustav Isaksen had a first-half strike ruled out for offside, before Mikkel Damsgaard rattled a shot off the post.

The hosts went ahead eight minutes into the second period, though, when Wales skipper Ben Davies diverted Damsgaard's free-kick into his own net with his arm, under pressure from Rasmus Hojlund.

Denmark doubled their advantage 13 minutes later when Isaksen's deflected shot spun in off the crossbar after Wales, who lost their opener to Portugal, again failed to deal with a set-piece.

In League B, Austria made it two wins from two as David Affengruber, Junior Adamu and Carney Chukwuemeka scored in a 3-1 win over Kosovo in Vienna.

C.Bertrand--JdB