Jürgen Klopp’s third game in charge of Germany could bring an unwanted record. The team faces Serbia in Munich on Thursday at 20:45, with ZDF broadcasting the match. If Germany fail to win again, Klopp will be the first DFB head coach without a victory in any of his first three national-team games.
The 59-year-old’s first two results were a 1-1 draw in the Netherlands and a 0-1 defeat by Greece. Sepp Herberger and Helmut Schön also failed to win their first two matches but managed two draws. Herberger later led Germany to the 1954 World Cup title. Schön remains the only Germany coach to win both the European Championship and the World Cup, in 1972 and 1974.
Of Klopp’s 12 predecessors, only Rudi Völler, Joachim Löw and Hansi Flick won all of their first three games. After the home loss to Greece, Klopp said the opening record mattered little to him: “Better a bad start than a bad finish.” Source: dpa.