Germany's Miroslav Klose shoots during the World Cup Group Four qualifying match between Germany and Azerbaijan in Hanover, northern Germany, on Wednesday. Germany won 4-0.(Photo/AFP)
HANOVER: Germany coach Joachim Loew singled out goal scorers Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski for praise after the 4-0 win over Azerbaijan on Wednesday, but slammed his side's first-half performance.
Germany suffered the rare humiliation of being booed off the pitch by their own fans at half time following a poor performance after captain Michael Ballack had converted a 13th-minute penalty.
Loew said he read his side the riot act at the break before bringing on Bayern Munich star Klose - the top-scorer at the last World Cup - to play as the lone striker in a 4-3-3 formation.
"After the early goal, I was totally unhappy with the performance," said Loew with his side facing a key showdown against Group Four rivals Russia in Moscow on Oct 10 with an automatic place in South Africa at stake. "I told the team in very clear terms at half time that we can't accept a performance like that and the spectators' whistles also made it clear they were not happy."
Klose's appearance paid immediate dividends as the 31-year-old netted twice in the second half, along with Cologne teammate Lukas Podolski, to seal a comfortable win.
Klose has now scored 47 goals for Germany, leaving him joint third on the list of all-time German top scorers alongside Rudi Voeller and Jurgen Klinsmann, after 91 appearances while Podolski has hit 34 goals in 66 matches.
"For Klose, the second half was a liberation as he showed what he can do," said Loew.
"He is not yet 100 percent fit but he was outstanding.
"Both he and Lukas Podolski have unbelievable goal-to-game ratios.
"We now have 22 points from a possible 24, which is near perfect in terms of qualification.
"We are now well prepared to travel to Russia."
And former German national coach Bertie Vogts, who is now the Azerbaijan trainer, said he was content his side made life difficult for Germany.
"We made life hard for the Germans in the first half," said Vogts, who led Germany to the Euro '96 title.
"Before the game, I met Miro Klose and I told him I was happy he wasn't playing.
"Then Jogi Loew made the error and brought him on," joked Vogts.
Chelsea star Ballack, who drilled home an early penalty, said the game with Russia will now be the toughest of the whole campaign.
"We have reached our target, now it will come down to the wire," said the German captain.
"The game in Russia will be the most difficult of the entire campaign.
"We began well but after the first goal we inexplicably lost our way. But in the second half we did OK."
With first-choice goalkeeper Robert Enke ruled out with a mystery virus, his replacement, Rene Adler of Bayer Leverkusen, shone and kept another clean sheet after shutting out South Africa in Saturday's 2-0 friendly win.
"We have achieved our target, so we can afford to be a little merry this evening," said the goalkeeper.
"I tried to be convincing with my performance.
"Things can change very quickly, I wasn't even in the team for the game against Azerbaijan in Baku last month (Germany won 2-0)."
But Bayern Munich defender Philipp Lahm was at a loss to explain Germany's poor first-half performance.
"We must not repeat the 20 to 25 minutes we showed before half time," said the 25-year-old.
"You can't afford to play like that in front of your own crowd. It was so bad but we actually did much better as the game went on. But the first half was simply incomprehensible."
With Russia beating Wales 3-1 in Cardiff, Germany travel to Moscow knowing they can ill-afford a repeat of their first-half nightmare against their main rivals who are just a point behind them in the table.
(Agencies)
