Joachim Loew did not exhibit great enthusiasm. Though the German national team had defeated Austria 3-0 (0-0), their coach appeared to have a somewhat guilty conscience at his team’s winning score. For 45 minutes there was every suggestion a disaster was looming for the FIFA World Cup™ bronze medallists at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium on February 6. Loew had shown his dissatisfaction. During the first half the 48-year-old angrily kicked the plexi-glass cover of the coaching area, in the second half he attacked the advertising board, while in a fit of rage at 2-0 he threw a bottle. Loew showed a completely new side to his nature. His team eventually scored three goals through Thomas Hitzlsperger (53rd), Miroslav Klose (63rd) and Mario Gomez (80th), but the national coach had to concede that there are still a few question marks to be disposed off four months prior to the start of the UEFA EURO 2008™.

The three-time UEFA European champions had been humiliated by the Austrians for a long time, as was the case during the 4-1 defeat by Italy in Florence on Ash Wednesday exactly two years ago. The only difference was that the Austrian team failed to take advantage of their scoring chances. Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann committed three bad mistakes. In the 22nd minute the 38-year-old misjudged the play when leaving his goal. “It is clear that there will be discussions about him when he makes mistakes. We know how to deal with that situation and have confidence in him”, said Loew, immediately standing by his number one goalkeeper. Without injured Christoph Metzelder his defence appeared alarmingly unstable. They allowed the European co-hosts eleven clear chances to score. The midfield consistently misplaced passes for almost an hour, leaving the strikers alone and ineffective. The conclusion was that the attitude of the side, displaying a certain arrogance, left much to be desired. “We need more passion, quicker thinking and action on the pitch”, team manager Oliver Bierhoff demanded.

”For 60 minutes we were literally outclassed. The 3-0 scoreline must not deceive us. Joachim Loew still has a lot to do before the European Championship”, commented Franz Beckenbauer. His assessment agreed with the analysis of Loew, who admitted “that we were lucky not to be behind at halftime”. He and his staff had let themselves be taken in by opposing coach Josef Hickersberger. The German national coach had himself surprised by nominating newcomer Heiko Westermann in the right defending position in the starting line-up. Later a second newcomer from FC Schalke 04, Jermaine Jones, also earned his first cap.

But Austria’s coach Hickersberger had even more surprises. He chose an attacking strategy, with his team playing an offensive 3-5-2 formation for the first time. For one hour, his team dominated. Loew fears an even greater challenge when the two meet in a UEFA European Football Championship™ third group match at the same venue: “It will be even harder on June 16. The Austrians will run for their lives”, Loew said, adding: “We have to make it very clear to our players that they must improve physically and mentally”.

His analysis after the match, with the Austrians showing tiredness at the end from lack of match practice as their championship does not resume till mid-February, put the omissions in a nutshell. “There were mistakes in organisation, adjustment and in certain positions. We failed to show dynamics, speed and running”, Loew said. Michael Ballack disclosed: “This cannot be our aim.” On his comeback the captain initially played as weakly as the others. During the halftime break, however, it was the 31-year-old who verbally contributed to the change by making a speech to his team-mates. After that the Chelsea FC midfielder, and the entire team, improved while the commitment of the European co-hosts weakened.

Ballack showed his leading qualities on the pitch by quarrelling with the hard playing Austrians, and afterwards by thoughtful criticism. “The trend in our team has been falling backwards during the past few weeks and months. This should be taken seriously”, he said. The team had already lost its post-World Cup momentum, with a goalless draw against Wales and a 3-0 defeat by the Czech Republic last autumn. And the 0-0 in Ireland, with which they qualified for the UEFA EURO 2008™, was also achieved with a wanting performance. “We must take care that we get back on track before the European Championship starts”, Ballack disclosed. Loew gave a few reasons for the declining performances: “The team is young. This shows when a certain nervousness develops”. And his team would need a lot of preparation. The national coach had almost regained his inner calmness when he looked forward to the UEFA European Footballl Championship™ with reasonable optimism: “Sometimes there is such a setback. We know the bases we have to attack. We have a masterplan”.