Nations League: Switzerland hold Germany to pile pressure on Joachim Low, Ukraine shock Spain

Joachim Low’s 14-year reign as Germany head coach is under threat after his side’s run of poor results continued Tuesday as they had to come from two goals down to limp to a 3-3 draw against Switzerland in the Nations League.

Germany have drawn four of their last five games – surrendering the lead on three occasions – to leave them second in their Nations League group behind Spain.

They squeezed past Ukraine 2-1 with a full-strength side in Kiev on Saturday and after a 3-3 friendly home draw against Turkey last Wednesday, Low’s side were once again guilty of poor defending.

“Sure, when you concede three goals, the defence isn’t good,” admitted Toni Kroos, who was at fault for the second Swiss goal, after his 100th appearance for Germany.

The 60-year-old Low has a German FA contract until the 2022 World Cup.

However, his popularity among German fans has plummeted, from the heights of winning the 2014 World Cup title, since Germany’s debacle at Russia 2018 finals when they failed to get out of their group.

The draw with the Swiss will only enhance the domestic criticism of Low from key names within German football such as Lothar Matthaeus and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Dinamo Zagreb striker Mario Gavranovic scored goals either side of a deft chip by Remo Freuler as all three Swiss goals came from German mistakes.

Germany fought back behind closed doors with goals by Timo Werner, his Chelsea team-mate Kai Havertz and Serge Gnabry.

“We always came back, despite a lot of set backs, so we showed some good morale,” said goal-scorer Havertz, putting a positive spin on a disappointing evening for the Germans.

Low also focused on the few plus points.

“Of course, we also see the mistakes, which we have to fix,” said Low.

“It was good that we came back. It shows that the team is eager.

“These mistakes are part of the process.”

On the eve of the game, Low said he expected “concentration, precision, courage”, but it was the Swiss who showed those character traits to take a 2-0 lead.

The German defence was caught napping with just five minutes gone.

Right back Robin Gosens lost the ball and Freuler headed across the box to Gavranovic who also used his head to guide the ball over German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

A weak clearance by Neuer then invited Gavranovic to claim his second, but the Swiss striker fired just wide.

The Swiss grabbed their second however when Toni Kroos, making his 100th appearance for Germany, surrendered possession.

Haris Seferovic flicked the ball across the box to Freuler, who had the time and space to chip Neuer on 26 minutes to leave Low fuming on the sidelines.

Germany fought back with two ‘Made in Chelsea’ goals.

Kai Havertz won the ball and unleashed his Blues team-mate Timo Werner, who beat a posse of defenders before delicately placing his shot out of reach of Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer to make it 2-1 on 29 minutes.

Having hit the post immediately after half-time, Havertz equalised on 55 minutes when he snapped up a loose ball and fired across Sommer to tuck his shot inside the far post.

However, the Swiss claimed their third goal when Gavranovic slammed home a shot on 57 minutes after the German defence had again been pulled apart.

It meant Germany have conceded six goals in Cologne in the space of seven days.

The Germans came back again when Werner turned provider and threaded a pass to Gnabry, who deftly flicked the ball past Sommer with half an hour to go to equalise for the second time.

Spain go down to defeat in Ukraine

Substitute Viktor Tsygankov’s strike gave Ukraine a surprise 1-0 win over goal-shy Spain in their Nations League clash in Kiev on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old Dynamo Kiev player had not long been thrown into the fray by coach Andriy Shevchenko when he latched onto Andriy Yarmolenko’s superb through ball and fired past an exposed David de Gea in the 76th minute.

The goal came against the run of play with Spain applying most of the pressure at the Olympic Stadium, where coronavirus restrictions were eased enough to allow a limited number of fans to attend.

It was a shock result after Spain – who had not lost since November 2018 – won 4-0 when the sides met in Madrid just last month, and Ukraine are now only a point behind Luis Enrique’s team in League A, Group 4.

With two rounds of matches still to play in November, Spain top the group on seven points, a point above both Germany and Ukraine, with winless Switzerland bottom on just two points.

Germany came from 2-0 and then 3-2 down to draw 3-3 with the Swiss in Cologne on Tuesday.

The Ukraine squad had been hit by a host of coronavirus cases before being trounced 7-1 by France in a friendly in Paris last week, and Andriy Shevchenko’s side then lost 2-1 at home to Germany at the weekend.

They were fortunate not to fall behind on several occasions against Spain, with goalkeeper Georgiy Bushchan doing well to tip over a Rodrigo Moreno header early on.

Bushchan, of Dynamo Kiev, also tipped over a Sergio Ramos free-kick in the first half, while Manchester City midfielder Rodri hit the post in the 65th minute.

Luis Enrique sent on Ferran Torres along with Mikel Oyarzabal, the Real Sociedad forward who scored in the 1-0 win over Switzerland at the weekend, but Spain could not find a way through.

It was a disappointing return for them to the stadium where they beat Italy 4-0 in the final of Euro 2012, and Spain have managed just one goal in three outings this month.

Often criticised for his performances with Manchester United, De Gea will also face scrutiny for his positioning at the goal, and Spain’s home meeting with Germany next month is shaping up to be decisive in deciding who advances to the four-team finals.

First point in six years for San Marino

San Marino are the perennial whipping boys of international football but on Tuesday they were able to celebrate claiming their first point in six years thanks to a 0-0 draw in Liechtenstein in the UEFA Nations League.

Goalkeeper Simone Benedettini was the hero for San Marino as he kept their first clean sheet since a goalless draw at home to Estonia in a European Championship qualifier in November 2014, and their first ever clean sheet away from home.

They had suffered 40 straight defeats before travelling to Vaduz where they claimed their first ever point in the Nations League to move off the mark in League D, Group 2 after losing 1-0 in Gibraltar and 2-0 at home to Liechtenstein last month.

Nevertheless, they have still never won a competitive game since being accepted into international football in 1990, and have not won any match since beating Liechtenstein in a friendly in 2004.

The tiny, landlocked nation, completely surrounded by Italy, has a population of under 35,000, a few thousand less than Liechtenstein, the similarly tiny Alpine principality.

San Marino sit 210th and dead last in the FIFA world rankings, just behind Anguilla, with results in recent years including 9-0 hammerings by Belgium and Russia, 8-0 losses to Norway and Germany, and a 10-0 defeat by Croatia in a 2016 friendly.