Low puts faith in German youth to out Black Stars

GERMANY coach Joachim Low is confident nerves will not be an issue for his young side as they look to keep alive their World Cup dream against Ghana in Johannesburg today.

Germany, with youngsters like Sami Khedira, Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller and Holger Badstuber given key roles, could hardly have had a better start to the competition as they thumped Australia 4-0 in their opening match.

But the European superpower was brought crashing back to earth as they lost 1-0 to Serbia in a clash which saw Miroslav Klose sent off and Lukas Podolski miss a penalty.

The pressure is on, but Low is getting a good vibe from his players.

“When I talk to the players I do not get the impression they are nervous or worried. Although it is very young, the team has confidence and inner conviction it can beat Ghana,” he said.

Low admits he is expecting a tough game against a physical Ghana side who could be the only African team to make it through to the last 16.

“I think it will be a very intense game. Ghana are a very physically strong team, a very robust team who likes to tackle.”

Low looks set to start with Cacau up front in place of the suspended Miroslav Klose.

Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac has backed Kevin-Prince Boateng to be strong enough to cope today.

The Portsmouth midfielder caused outrage in Germany, the country of his birth, after his tackle on Germany captain Michael Ballack in the FA Cup final ruled the Chelsea man out of the World Cup, while his half-brother Jerome is in the German squad.

Rajevac said: “We have talked about this. Kevin-Prince Boateng will do his best, he will focus, he will not be provoked, he is a professional. They may be brothers off the pitch but on the pitch they are not brothers.”