Joachim Low was pleased with his Germany side’s performance despite watching them slip to a 2-1 defeat against France in Paris.
The Germany coach went into the Nations League Group A1 clash against the world champions in Paris looking for a reaction from his players after the dismal 3-0 defeat in the Netherlands on Saturday.
And things looked good when Toni Kroos fired them in front from a 14th-minute penalty when Presnel Kimpembe was penalised for handball.
However, Antoine Griezmann’s header just after the hour mark levelled for France, before the Atletico Madrid hitman scored a penalty 10 minutes from time to win it for the hosts.
Despite being ‘disappointed’ with their sixth defeat of 2018, which also included a group stage elimination at the World Cup in Russia, Low felt his side performed well and he slammed the referee’s decision to award a spot-kick to France.
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He said: “I’m disappointed, but this defeat feels different to last Saturday (lost 3-0 to Netherlands), not of course because of the result, but because of our very good performance. The team played really well and attacked courageously.
“I think that we were on the same level as perhaps the best team in the world. In the first half, we could have been two-nil up, but France have a lot of individual quality. If we’re not careful they will immediately punish us, which is what happened later.
“But the penalty was totally unjustified. I just watched the replay. Mats [Hummels] absolutely does not touch [Blaise] Matuidi. It was Matuidi who stepped on his foot and slipped, so this penalty was totally unfair. But I’m happy with the way the team courageously battled.”
