Germany -Head coach Julian Nagelsmann admitted the nations of his party to Portugal “one of our worst matches in the past 18 months”.
Florian Wirtz had nodded Germany in the front in the 48th minute in the Allianz Arena, who was on his way to a place in Sunday's final past Diogo Costa.
Two goals in five minutes from replacement Francisco Conukicao and Captain Cristiano Ronaldo sealed the victory in front of Roberto Martinez.
Portugal had lost their last five meetings with Germany prior to Wednesday's game, each of those losses at large tournaments (2006 World Cup, Euro 2008, Euro 2012, World Cup 2014 and Euro 2020).
But this time they were worthy victors and ended the game with an expected goals (XG) of 2.92 of their 17 shots to Germany's 1.11 of their nine attempts.
Germany will make the loser of the other semi -final between Spain and France in third place, and Nagelsmann wants to see an improved display of his team.
“Portugal was the better side,” said Nagelsmann. “If we don't work at 100 percent, we can't keep up with the top countries.
“We didn't have the activity, the energy we had had today; this was one of our worst matches in the last 18 months.”
Nagelsmann acknowledged that his side was the better team in the first half, but admitted that after the Wirtz opener they were unable to hammer their advantage home.
“We played well in the first half, even when it ended 0-0. [In the second half]We have not shown a great presence in terms of our possession of the ball.
“We didn't keep the same nerve that we had defensive in the earlier competitions.”
The 37-year-old was also asked whether Germany's defeat was a lack of attitude of the team like a collective, something that Nagelsmann was strongly denied.
“No. attitude – that's a very big word. We still had a decent team on the field, but the activity there was not 100 percent.
“As you can see, it only says 2-1, but it felt like a 3-0 win for them-We were pretty tired.”
Joshua Kimmich echoed the feelings of his head coach, with his 100th performance for Germany overshadowed by their semi -final exit from the Nations League.
In addition to taking the assist for Wirtz's header, Kimmich also placed a joint team-high for opportunities (three, level with Leroy Sane).
“We rightly led 1-0, but then we stopped playing,” said Kimmich. “If we give 100 percent in everything we do, then we are one of the top teams in Europe.
“That is a great learning experience. We can draw a lot from that – we were not active enough, both in possession and without possession of the ball, so we have to let everyone play to the extreme to compete, otherwise we would need good luck to continue.”