Praises galore for Loew after Germany's thrilling 3-2 win over Holland
Germany coach Joachim Loew was lavished with praise yesterday morning (Singapore time), after his team snatched a late win over Holland in their opening Euro 2020 qualifier earlier.
Loew has been under enormous pressure since Germany crashed out of the World Cup and suffered relegation in the Nations League last year.
In recent weeks, he has faced growing criticism for his decision to drop veteran stars Thomas Mueller, Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng from the national team.
Yet after the dramatic victory in Amsterdam, the 59-year-old appears to have got the German media back onside.
"Loew delivered in the first truly important game since the World Cup, and showed up everyone who said he is no longer the right man for the job," wrote Bild.
"A victory for the coach!" read the headline in Kicker magazine.
"Loew has managed to unite this young team behind him," the magazine wrote.
The praise marks a decisive change in tone from the recent criticism. Just last week, Die Zeit newspaper summarised the mood around the Germany team with the headline "Loew versus everyone else".
Yesterday, the coach played down the idea that he had stuck it to his critics with victory over Holland.
"I don't see the win as an act of vindication," he said. "When my team play as well as they did, then I am positive, regardless of what is going on off the field."
The Germans were magnificent in the first 45 minutes in Amsterdam. But they were outplayed in the second half as the Dutch came back from 2-0 down against their rivals for the second time since November.
With a quarter of an hour gone, Germany took a deserved lead when Nico Schulz burst up the left wing and found Leroy Sane with a low cross.
As Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt slipped on the turf, Sane charged away and smashed the ball home.
But the Johan Cruyff Arena fell silent when Serge Gnabry found the top corner with a breathtaking strike from the edge of the box on 35 minutes.
The hosts responded furiously after the break and de Ligt made up for his earlier error by flicking a Memphis Depay cross past Manuel Neuer to make it 2-1.
With just over an hour gone, Lyon forward Depay squeezed a shot through a crowded box to level the scores.
Holland looked the more likely winners for much of the rest of the game, until Schulz popped up in the box late on to steer in the winner and crown a thrilling match. - AFP
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