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Germany’s draw with the Socceroos has heightened local concerns about the world champions’ stuttering Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
German media were complimentary towards Ange Postecoglou’s Australian side a day after the surprise 2-2 draw in Kaiserslautern but mainly critical of the underwhelming home team.
Much of the blame was put down to coach Joachim Loew’s persistence with a new three-man defensive formation, after the Socceroos created most of the clear-cut chances.
Loew played down the significance of the result ahead of Sunday’s qualifier in Georgia but sports news website Deutsche Welle said it highlighted the improvement needed for Germany to top their European group.
Germany have lost one and drawn another of their opening four qualifiers and sit three points behind Group D leaders Poland.
“Wednesday’s 2-2 draw was very real, as the beaming smiles of the Australian players after the game showed,” the DW report said.
“On Sunday, against Georgia in Tbilisi, Germany has to pick up points again as part for their European Championships qualifying campaign, especially if it wants to meet its bold target of topping its group.
“But, they’ll be lucky to do so if they play like they did against Australia.”
The Frankfurter Allgemeine carried a headline “World champions no better than the Asian champions” while respected tabloid Bild said: “We are the world champions. But we do not play like that.”
German daily Der Tagesspiegel called for Loew to abandon his experimentation and put the focus on results.
“Loew wants to invent the new world champion, but he does not have any solutions,” it said.
German-based Australian striker Mathew Leckie and goalkeeper Mat Ryan were singled out for praise by many, while Loew paid tribute to the Socceroos’ aggressive approach.
“Australia were bold and courageous,” the coach said.
“When I look at it from the coach side, it was a hectic game for us.
“We never had the game completely under control.”
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