Germany News

• Nickname:Die Mannschaft
• Founded:1908
• Manager:Joachim Löw

• Ground:-
• Capacity:

Klinsmann backs strike pair

28 May 2006 - 10:28:54

Click To Enlarge

Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann is confident Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski will have developed a threatening strike partnership by the time the World Cup finals get underway.

The experienced Klose and the Koln youngster both found the target twice during Germany's 7-0 friendly victory against Luxembourg in Freiburg on Saturday.

"I think they are really growing together more and more," said Klinsmann.

"Miroslav has turned into a leader - also verbally on the pitch - and he is very important for Lukas' development."

Oliver Neuville also scored twice, while Torsten Frings marked his 50th cap by netting from the penalty spot.

Klinsmann was satisfied with the performance but warned his players they still have plenty of room for improvement.

"We are being realistic," he said. "This was a nice game and another small step but we are preparing to play much stronger opponents in the future.

"We want to play seven games at the World Cup and know that we have bigger tasks coming up.

"The players have tried to do the things we have been going through in practice, like playing quickly to the front, and they did quite well.

"The last 12 days have been very exhilarating so it is no surprise that not everything was working perfectly. They showed some fantastic engagement and got rewarded with the many goals."