Belgian Red Devils beat Germany for first time in 69 years

Belgium's Red Devils beat Germany 3-2 in a friendly on Tuesday evening, after an entertaining match at FC Cologne's virtually sold-out RheinEnergie stadium. Captain Kevin De Bruyne was the standout with one goal and two assists, for Yannick Carrasco and Romelu Lukaku.

It was a historic win by the Belgians, as their last victory against Germany was in 1954. The last win on German soil was even longer ago, in 1910. Germany, on the other hand, had been unbeaten in practice matches for 13 games in a row.

"It was a nice match, there was a lot of commitment and for half an hour we played very well," De Bruyne said afterwards. "This match had everything. It was good to see that we could outplay the Germans for half an hour. Defensively we were also set up well, we are not only good in possession."

"We wanted to start bravely and surprise Germany," said new coach Domenico Tedesco. "I don't think they expected that intensity. We always found the free man. However, it should not have been 0-2, but 0-3 or 0-4 and then [the match] would have been over."

After Friday's 3-0 win in Sweden, the Belgians have a perfect record under Tedesco. The next fixture for the Red Devils is on 17 June, with a home match in the European Championship qualifiers against Austria. Three days later, on 20 June, they conclude the season with a qualifying match in Estonia.

^{© BELGA PHOTO BRUNO FAHY}