Greece beat Germany 1-0 in Augsburg on Sunday and handed Jurgen Klopp his first defeat as Germany coach. Substitute Dimitrios Kourbelis scored the only goal in the 74th minute with a shot that deflected off Joshua Kimmich.
It was Greece’s first win in 11 meetings with Germany. Klopp was making his home debut, and Germany had drawn 1-1 with the Netherlands in his opening game.
Klopp called the defeat “part of the process” and took responsibility for the lineup, the composition and the substitutions. One Greek player had a personal reason to enjoy the night.
Liverpool left-back Kostas Tsimikas played four years under Klopp at Anfield. He played the full 90 minutes against his former manager.
Tsimikas described their meeting after the final whistle to Greek outlet Sport24. He said seeing Klopp again after a long time was the best feeling, and that the two share a relationship of love and respect.
“I beat him with his own weapons,” Tsimikas told Klopp. He said Klopp laughed and congratulated him, and that the two will meet again in a week.
Klopp had spoken warmly about Tsimikas at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. He called him a very good player and a fun character, and said he would love to work with him again.
Klopp also said this could be the golden generation of Greek football. He pointed to Christos Tzolis and Vangelis Pavlidis as examples of the talent in the squad.
Greek media treated the result as historic.
Sport24 said Ivan Jovanovic’s side had pulled off the perfect “robbery” in Augsburg. Greece lead their group and have almost secured a place in the top pot for the Euro 2028 qualifying draw.
Tsimikas’ own performance drew a mixed but largely positive response. Hellas Football gave him a 6.
Its report said he found his feet after a wobbly start. It noted a few sloppy moments but described his defending as sound.
Sport Dunia rated him higher, at 7.5.
BILD also rated Tsimikas well. Its scale runs from 1 (best) to 6 (worst), and Gazzetta reported that he received a 2.
Tzolakis, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Thanasis Androutsos, Konstantinos Karetsas and Kourbelis got the same mark. No German player received a 2, and Klopp himself was given a 4.
The statistics support the defensive side of those ratings. Sofascore recorded four tackles and a key pass for Tsimikas. Greece’s back line also held Germany to 17% crossing accuracy.
Kostas Tsimikas did have difficult moments against Karim Adeyemi. Sport1 noted that Adeyemi left him behind on a counter-attack in the 27th minute before firing over the bar.
Adeyemi was Germany’s most active attacker. He led the team with three shots and four chances created.
Florian Wirtz, another Liverpool player, came off the bench with 25 minutes left. He had joined Klopp’s squad earlier than planned because of injuries to Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz.
Germany host Serbia on Thursday before travelling to Greece. Greece welcome the Netherlands on October 1 before facing Germany on October 4.
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