New in the role of coach of Belgium, Domenico Tedesco followed with a second success carried by his captain, Kevin De Bruyne, author of two assists and a goal.

It allows Belgium to sign its first success against Germany since September 26, 1954! Since then, the two teams had faced each other sixteen times with fifteen German victories and a draw. The seventeenth opportunity was the right one for Belgium. A Belgian success in Germany had not happened since May 1910.

For the 999th match of the German selection, Hansi Flick wanted to know how his defenders would react against world-class strikers, such as Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne or Yannick Carasco. "We have to be ready for duels," he said.

The start of the match of his defense, a little experimental, was catastrophic. On the opening of the score in the 7th minute, Matthias Ginter was light in the duel on Lukaku, who was able to serve De Bruyne. Launched deep by the new captain of the Red Devils, Carasco played Marius Wolf to deceive Marc-André ter Stegen (1-0).

Less than two minutes later, it was Thilo Kehrer who was surprised by Lukaku, once again ideally served by De Bruyne (2-0, 9th).

Half hour complicated for Germany

The bill could have been much higher for Joshua Kimmich's teammates, if Dodi Lukebakio had not missed his duel with ter Stegen in the 19th minute, after another mistake by the German defence. And Lukaku didn't come far from the double in the first half, but his header from a corner hit the crossbar.

After a first half hour totally underwater, Germany slowly resurfaced in the last quarter of an hour and just before the break, it was the providential man of the Mannschaft, Niclas Füllkrug who allowed Germany to return to the dressing room with only one goal late.

German midfielders Joshua Kimmich and Florian Wirtz chase Dodi Lukebakio during the friendly match won by Belgium in Cologne, March 28, 2023 © UWE KRAFT / AFP

On a corner, the French referee of the match Willy Delajod logically awarded a penalty to Germany, Lukaku touching the head of Füllkrug. The current Bundesliga top scorer took the penalty himself, beating Koen Casteels for his sixth goal in six caps.

The entry during the first half of Dortmund midfielder Emre Can did Germany good, in the combativeness.

In the second half, while the Belgians were less worrisome for ter Stegen, the Germans had the opportunities to equalise, through Serge Gnabry in the 53rd but his recovery at the first post on a Wolf centre did not find the frame.

But it was once again on a fast counter that the Belgians ensured their success, with a goal from De Bruyne (78th).

Serge Gnabry reduced the score late in the game for Germany, reviving the suspense, but it was not enough to avoid the setback of the Mannschaft.

© 2023 AFP