Germany and Greece miss out

Hope
Greece led Germany by three points at kick-off, but although Jörg Daniel's side secured victory and group hosts the Republic of Ireland defeated Portugal 2-0 to leave all teams level on four points in the final standings, the home team's goal difference was superior. Germany always knew a three-goal win was a minimum requirement following a 2-0 loss to Portugal on Saturday, and gave themselves hope before the break when Manuel Gulde converted a penalty.

Heartbreak
Stefano Cincotta made it two with eleven minutes left, and news that Ireland were winning gave Germany hope. Despite the dismissal of Greece duo Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Panagiotis Tachtsidis in the final ten minutes a third goal was not forthcoming, however, and Gulde too received a red card. Daniel said: "It was a really good performance today, we had the game under control. The sticking point was the game against Portugal."