World Cup glow diminishes for below-par home side

PLAYED one, won one. On the face of it, Saturday was everything the Germans wanted from their first Group D qualifier but Michael Ballack was far from happy with his side’s display in Stuttgart.

Though they peppered the Irish goal throughout, the home side failed to click as fluidly as they had during the World Cup.

Neither were the hiccups confined to their attacking efforts. Yet again, they looked less than secure at the back, especially at set plays.

That weakness would have cost them dearly too had Richard Dunne done better with that injury-time header.

“The Irish put in a good performance in the beginning,” said Ballack.

“I was a little surprised about that. We didn’t use our chances though and we failed to play to our full ability.

“We tried and we tried and we tried to score but we hit the post or had it saved by the keeper or whatever. We couldn’t get the ball into the net. I had hoped that it would be a better performance.”

The German fans in the crowd of 53,198 came hoping to recreate the atmosphere that buoyed the nation during the summer. The first Mexican wave trickled into life after 14 minutes but crashed against the rock that was the main Irish section behind Shay Given’s goal.

It was symbolic of the action of the pitch in that first period where the Germans’ best efforts were being thwarted just as effectively.

By half-time German coach Joachim Loew was not a happy camper.

On Friday, Loew had stated he expected the Irish to launch a barrage of high balls atop his makeshift central defence but was horrified to see his own side resorting to those basic tactics time and again in the first 45 minutes.

“It was a game like we expected,” said team manager Oliver Bierhoff.

“The Irish were very well organised but in the first half we played too much with long, high balls. The Irish defence played very well against that.

“We told the team to change that in the second half. They made it better. Of course, the goal was great to get and it was deserved even if it was lucky.”

The goal could have gone in off his rear end and Lukas Podolski wouldn’t have cared. Life has been tough for the 21-year old striker since his big money move to Bayern Munch this summer.

Despite his reputation and his proven goalscoring ability – Saturday’s goal was his 16th for his country in only 34 games – he has been frequenting the bench rather than the penalty box since his arrival.

“I was delighted to see it go in,” he admitted. “It was an important goal for the team but for me personally as well.

“I hope that this experience will make me better for the next game (with Bayern).”

Of course, it is possible Germany simply underestimated Ireland. The 4-0 drubbing from the Dutch might have had a hand in that. Likewise, Germany’s own 3-0 defeat of Sweden who, after the same result in Dublin recently, just don’t seem able to rouse themselves for friendlies.

Ballack and Loew talked about the need to consign the memories of the World Cup to history and look to the future in the run-up to this match and many of their problems on Saturday could well have been down to the fact it was the new coach’s first competitive game in charge.

“The goal was always to get six points from the first two games and we can do that now. It will put us in a very good position,” said Loew.

“It’s a new era,” said Ballack. “Now we must build something new. We must try to keep our self-confidence. It was very important that we get the three points this night. This win will give us the confidence for the coming matches.

“We must try to take the World Cup atmosphere into the future but qualification for the European Championships is much different to competing for the World Cup in our own country.”