‘Painful’ relegation for Germany

BERLIN: Head coach Joachim Loew on Friday said that Germany must move past their “painful” relegation from the top tier of the inaugural Nations League.

The Netherlands’ 2-0 win over world champions France in Rotterdam ensured that the 2014 World Cup winners will slip into League B no matter the result of their clash with the Dutch in Gelsenkirchen tomorrow.

“For us, this result is obviously painful, but we must accept it,” Loew said.

The Germans beat Russia 3-0 in a friendly on Thursday, with youngsters Leroy Sane, Niklas Suele and Serge Gnabry scoring the goals, and Loew insisted his side has a bright future.

“Our eyes remain fixed on Euro 2020, for which we will qualify and where we want to send a strong team again,” he added.

“We will continue to make room for our young players and to gradually integrate them into the national team.”

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands will pip France to a Nations League semi-final spot with either a draw or a victory over Germany, after having won the first encounter 3-0 in Amsterdam last month.

Meanwhile, Gibraltar’s hopes of a fairytale promotion from their Nations League group ended as they slumped to a 6-2 home defeat by Armenia on Friday after a disastrous second-half performance.

The result means Macedonia, who beat Liechtenstein 2-0, will be guaranteed promotion if they avoid losing to Gibraltar in Skopje tomorrow. Armenia must beat Liechtenstein and hope Gibraltar win if they are to top the group.