Loew angry after Germany loss, England slay Nigeria
England manager Gareth Southgate was delighted with his side’s performance in a 2-1 win over Nigeria but Germany’s Joachim Loew was angry after the world champions suffered a historic loss to Austria in Saturday’s World Cup warm-up friendlies.
Four other World Cup finalists failed to score between them as European champions Portugal drew 0-0 in Belgium and the Scandinavian derby between Sweden and Denmark also ended goalless.
Germany’s 2-1 defeat in Klagenfurt, which saw Manuel Neuer play his first game for club or country after a nine-month injury layoff, was their first against their smaller neighbours -- who have not qualified for Russia -- for 32 years. Although Loew was happy at Neuer’s return, he was not at all pleased with his team’s overall effort.
“Of course, the defeat angers me,” he said. “We lost too many balls which normally doesn’t happen with us... a lot of things were bad today.
Mesut Ozil capitalised on a dreadful clearance by Austria goalkeeper Joerg Siebenhandl to give Germany an early lead. However, second-half goals from Martin Hinteregger, who met a corner with a stunning far post volley, and Alessandro Schoepf
BERN:
turned the game around.
England capitalised on an error-strewn first-half performance by Nigeria as Gary Cahill and captain Harry Kane put them ahead before Alex Iwobi pulled one back for the Super Eagles.
“That was as good a half as we’ve had,” said Southgate.
“We used the ball well and we were a threat. I liked the interchange of movement and passing between our front four.”
BELGIUM SUFFER KOMPANY BLOW
Defender Vincent Kompany will require a scan to determine if he can play in the World Cup in Russia after injuring his groin during Belgium’s goalless draw with Portugal in a friendly on Saturday.
The 32-year-old Kompany, a key part of Belgium’s defence, abruptly left the pitch in the 55th minute of the match after appearing to hurt himself when lunging for the ball.
BRUSSELS: