Germany break France jinx with win

 Germany claimed their first win over France in 26 years when goals by Thomas Mueller and Sami Khedira secured a 2-1 win in an entertaining friendly at the Stade de France on Wednesday.

Both second-half goals came from France left back Patrice Evra’s side of the defence as Germany fought back after Mathieu Valbuena had opened the scoring on the stroke of halftime.

Valbuena headed home from close range in the 44th minute after Karim Benzema’s free kick bounced off the bar, but Mueller slotted past Hugo Lloris early the second half and Khedira wrapped it up from Mesut Ozil’s pass with 17 minutes left.

Real Madrid striker Benzema missed a clear chance in the first half and has not scored for France in his last 10 appearances.

France, reeling following a poor run that lasted from 2008-12, drew 1-1 with Spain in a World Cup qualifier and beat Italy 1-0 in a friendly in their last two outings but the world’s second-ranked team proved a bridge too far.

Germany were without midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, striker Miroslav Klose and Borussia Dortmund trio Mario Goetze, Marco Reus and Marcel Schmelzer, but they still dominated possession on a cold Parisian night.

They became the first German team to beat France since East Germany’s 1-0 win at the Parc des Princes in a Euro 88 qualifier in November 1987. That year, West Germany also beat Les Bleus, 2-1 in a friendly in Berlin with goals by Rudi Voeller.

French president Francois Hollande and German chancellor Angela Merkel attended the game as Paris and Berlin celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Elysee treaty that sealed the post-war co-operation between the two countries.

Players from the 1982 World Cup semifinal between France and Germany were invited and among them was keeper Harald Schumacher, who was booed by the Stade de France crowd 31 years after a violent challenge on French defender Patrick Battiston during a game Les Bleus lost on penalties.