France claimed a huge scalp as they inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Germany, one of the favourites for Euro 2012.
Bremen defeat for Joachim Low's men
France claimed a huge scalp as they inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Germany, one of the favourites for Euro 2012.
Olivier Giroud opened the scoring in the 21st minute with his first international goal and substitute Florent Malouda added a second in the 69th minute to leave France in control.
Germany pulled a goal back late on through replacement Cacau but it was not enough to deny the visitors, who stretched their unbeaten run to 18 matches.
Laurent Blanc's side, whose last defeat came in September 2010, started well and almost took the lead in the 15th minute when Yohan Cabaye's downward header from Samir Nasri's corner was blocked on the line by a combination of Germany goalkeeper Tim Wiese and midfielder Andre Schurrle.
France did not have to wait much longer to go ahead though as Ligue 1's leading goalscorer this season Giroud got off the mark for his country.
Mathieu Debuchy's pass from the edge of the area went through the legs of the sliding Mats Hummels and Montpellier striker Giroud clinically slotted in first time from 12 yards out.
Germany produced little to worry to the French defence in the opening half hour but they then enjoyed a purple patch which probably should have seen them equalise.
A fine through-ball by Marco Reus in the 31st minute put Miroslav Klose in on goal but the Germany captain's shot was blocked by a last-ditch sliding tackle by Adil Rami at the expense of a corner.
Nothing came of that flag-kick but 60 seconds later Klose had an even better opening after finding himself unmarked at the far post from a Toni Kroos free kick. The veteran striker was denied again however, as his thunderous close range effort was saved by France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris
Push
Germany continued to push and in the 34th minute a deep cross from Dennis Aogo found Holger Badstuber, whose downward header came back off the base of the post.
The hosts created another good opening in the 41st minute but, following great work by Real Madrid duo Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil, Klose could not get a decent connection on the latter's cross as France escaped again to go into the interval still 1-0 up.
Having weathered that storm, France came out after the break looking to increase their lead and Debuchy saw a long-range thunderbolt saved by Wiese while Giroud and Mathieu Valbuena also tried their luck without success.
At the other end, Germany continued to threaten through Reus and Ozil shots. It was France who would make the next breakthrough though, with Malouda doubling their lead midway through the second half.
Malouda and Giroud both converged on Debuchy's low cross from the right and the Chelsea winger finished off the chance with a close-range shot into the roof of the net.
There was no way back for Germany after that, and while they gave themselves a glimmer of hope when the unmarked Cacau tapped in Thomas Muller's low cross a minute into stoppage time to make it 2-1, France held on for the win.
