Coach Loew: Germany must force Spain into mistakes to win World Cup semifinal
By Nesha Starcevic
ERASMIA, South Africa — Coach Joachim Loew says Spain is the strongest team Germany has faced at the World Cup and the only way to beat the European champions is to force them into mistakes.
Spain has been the most consistent team of the past two or three years and is the favourite for the World Cup title, Loew said Monday.
But he believes Germany can beat any opponent, including a Spain team whose passing game he praised as a model for his own style.
Germany lost to Spain 1-0 in the final of the 2008 European Championship and the two sides meet in the semifinal of the World Cup on Wednesday in Durban.
"We are not speaking of revenge, that hasn't been on my mind at all. We lost the final in 2008 because we were beaten by the best team of the time," Loew said.
"But we have hope that we can win. For me, Spain is the favourite for the title. It has been the most consistent team of the past two or three years and has played at a very high level. Spain has not one Messi, but several Messis who can decide a game," Loew said.
Loew was referring to Argentina star Lionel Messi, who was virtually shut out of the game when Germany routed Argentina 4-0 in the quarter-finals. Germany also eliminated England 4-1 and has scored the most goals, 13, while displaying perhaps the best football at the tournament.
Spain, however, will be a tough challenge, Loew said.
"They make almost no mistakes but we have to force them into making errors," said Loew, who devised masterful tactics to beat England and Argentina, seizing on the two teams' defensive liabilities.
"Spain is very strong as a unit, both in offence and defence, they have several players who can decide games and tactically they are very good. But at the moment we are capable of beating everyone." Continue reading here...
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