Germany coach Joachim Loew saw his world champions humbled 1-0 by the Republic of Ireland in Euro 2016 qualifying Thursday but blasted the home side for scoring from their "100th long ball".

Shane Long's 70th-minute strike gave Ireland a first ever competitive victory over the Germans that guaranteed at least a playoff spot, and offers them a serious chance of automatic qualification for the finals in France next summer.

Germany’s fate is in their own hands, with a home game against Georgia to come on Sunday and only one point required to reach thefinals.

“It was one of the most unnecessary defeats we have suffered in recent years," said Loew.

"It was to be expected that we would face nine or ten players behind the ball and Ireland hitting long, hopeful balls. They only had one opportunity to score.

"We created loads of chances but wasted too many of them. Against opponents like this we needed to score. We avoided 99 of those long balls but the 100th was one too many."