The German national team has missed the chance to wrap up qualification for EURO 2016 after suffering a surprise and undeserved 1-0 defeat away to Republic of Ireland on Thursday evening.

Four Dortmund players featured in the starting eleven: Matthias Ginter and Mats Hummels lined up in defence, while Ilkay Gündogan and Marco Reus featured in midfield. And the BVB men played their part in a game Germany dominated, helping the visitors come close to breaking the deadlock three times between the 13th and 16th minutes: Gündogan was presented with a gilt-edged chance only for O'Shea to intervene and Keogh blocked a cross from Ginter into Götze before Hummels could arguably have been awarded a penalty following a foul by O'Shea.

In a match that was largely one-way traffic, the world champions failed to take a deserved lead and were punished when Long struck in the 70th minute following a counter-attack. Hummels missed a headed chance to restore parity in stoppage time. (br)