The Albany Gazette - Klopp averts crisis with first win as Germany boss

Liverpool's Florian Wirtz and Bayern Munich's Tom Bischof both found the net as a youthful Germany made short work of a lacklustre Serbia team in Munich.

It was a win that lifted the pressure on the new national team boss, after he began his tenure with a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands and a shock 1-0 defeat to Greece last weekend.

Another loss, or a draw, would have made Klopp the first Germany coach in history not to win any of his first three games in charge.

Instead, victory marked a cautious sense of optimism for the four-time world champions, as they look to return to the international elite under Klopp.

"The mix of football and attitude was top level today. I told the boys that this has to be our benchmark," Klopp told public broadcaster ZDF.

His players sang his praises in return.

"Jurgen is a coach that pulls people along with him. We saw that today and I hope it continues into the future," said Bischof.

Having nominated a bumper squad of 44 players for his first round of games, Klopp fielded an entirely new starting eleven against Serbia, including three debutants.

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Jonas Urbig, Freiburg forward Derry Scherhant and Brentford midfielder Vitaly Janelt all made their national team debuts, while Celtic's Mika Baur became the 1,000th player ever to represent Germany when he came on as a 77th minute substitute.

The young team showed a marked improvement on the turgid performance against Greece last Sunday, albeit against underwhelming opposition.

Aleksandar Pavlovic, Serge Gnabry and Bischof all had chances in the first half hour, while Serbia mustered only one dangerous counter-attack through Filip Kostic.

The hosts finally broke through shortly before half-time thanks to some elegant footwork from Wirtz.

Wirtz danced through a maze of legs in the box and hit the post, before an unmarked Bischof smashed the ball in on the rebound.

- 'Flo, Flo, Flo, Wirtz, Wirtz, Wirtz' -

The game continued in the same vein after the break, as Germany continued to pin Serbia back into their own final third.

Juventus' Nick Woltemade should have doubled the lead on 59 minutes but skied the ball high over the bar from a metre in front of goal.

Wirtz spared his team-mate's blushes a moment later, making space for himself in the box with a brilliant first touch and slotting the ball into the bottom corner.

Klopp reserved special praise for the Liverpool player, who has faced criticism in England for his club form recently.

"The rhythm has to be: easy, easy, easy, Flo, Flo, Flo, Wirtz, Wirtz, Wirtz," said the Germany coach. "A performance like that helps us, but it also helps him.

"If he was out of form, we wouldn't just let him play anyway. But he's in form and he showed that in training and today."

The second goal put the win beyond doubt, prompting a Mexican wave to roll around the Munich arena.

(P.Davis--TAG)