German media were far from excited about Germany’s 2-0 victory over Israel in their final test match before Euro2012, saying Deutschland were still missing the glamour of a top title favorite and questioning if Die Mannschaft were ready for their opener against Portugal.
“Jogi, this victory worries us!” was the headline for the coverage by the mass daily Bild.
“It was not really a glamorous number…” continued Bild in their reporting. “A tired 2-0 in final test before Euro against Israel. First victory in three matches this year, but against the second-class Israelis (58th in world rankings). We are still far from title form.”
It went on to say: “Two hammer goals – but the rest from the test was hardly a gala even though head coach (Joachim) Löw had seven Bayern (Munich) players in the starting line-up. The stars from the record champions rested in the 5-3 loss against Switzerland. But things are not going that well yet with the Bayern players.”
Sportbild titled their coverage with: “Gomez and Schürrle score – are we really ready for the Euro, Jogi?”
“The minimal goal is achieved, nothing more – the German football national team won their dress rehearsal against sparring partner Israel, but the search for the Euro form continues to be tough.”
Sportbild also quoted Löw about his reaction to the match. “It was a very orderly final test of the preparations and it will give us some tailwind. But you could also tell that not everything is going well yet. It did us well going into the next weeks with a victory,” said Löw.
The Munich daily Süddeutsche Zeitung played on that quote with the headline: “Orderly final test”.
It wasn’t a roaring gala but a solid working victory. … Joachim Löw sees that the Bayern players do the team’s game well – still not everything went as planned against a weak opponent.”
The German language sports news web portal spox.com ran with the headline: “The big glamour still missing”
“Germany succeed in dress rehearsal for Euro. Gomez and Schürrle collect plus points, but there is still room to improve. Also the defense could not prove itself.”
And kicker headlined their coverage with “Glamourless victory over weak Israelis”.
“In the last test match before the Euro, Germany may have beaten Israel 2-0 but could only seldom shine on offense. In addition, the whole-filled defense against Switzerland hardly had a chance to show improvement since the Israelis were harmless in attack.”