Reigning World Champions Germany go into their Group F fixture against Sweden this afternoon under plenty of pressure after slipping to a shock 1-0 loss to Mexico last Sunday.
Die Mannschaft coach Joachim Low has admitted that his side made many mistakes during their opening World Cup fixture, although the 58-year-old is confident that his players will react in a positive manner today.
“This week the players have shown a reaction in training, but Saturday is what counts,” Low said.
“We have to see a reaction and a difference when it comes to performance on the pitch. I’m convinced they will show the right reaction.
“We have to deliver and if we win we’re back in the race. We’ll see how the tournament goes on after that.”
“It wasn’t the same team, there wasn’t that self-confidence that we’re used to,”
“This week the first few days were not easy because we had to digest that loss against Mexico. It hurt. That goes without saying.
“But the mistakes we made in that match, and there were quite a few, we’ve really analysed them and can put that right.
“Right now I feel there’s a positive tension and focus in the team and if we are able to show our quality, that will be the right reaction from the team.”
Despite Germany being hugely lacklustre against Mexico and in several of their pre World Cup warm up games, history tells us you would be a madman to bet against Low’s side being there or there abouts once the tournament enters it business stage in a few weeks time.
Germany have a number of Premier League players in their ranks, including Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil, Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger and Man City’s Ilkay Gundogan.