Germany coach Joachim Low has called for fans to be patient with his side’s young players after they were held to a 2-2 draw by Argentina in their friendly in Dortmund.
Serge Gnabry, who bagged four goals in Bayern Munich’s 7-2 thrashing of Tottenham in the Champions League last week, opened the scoring after 15 minutes and then set up Kai Havertz to make it 2-0 at Signal Iduna Park.
However, an Argentina side without the suspended Lionel Messi fought back in the second half to secure a draw thanks to goals from substitutes Lucas Alario and Lucas Ocampos.
“We played with confidence in the first half and attacked them at pace,” Low told the German Football Association’s website. “Argentina then played really well in the second half. They brought on players with a lot of quality.
“We lost the ball too much and got ourselves into a few problems. We couldn’t keep up our level of performance for the whole 90 minutes, although I am pleased with the way we started.
“I would have like the team to have been a bit calmer during the game though. It’s really positive how the guys who have only played a few times have been doing. It’s always annoying to throw away a 2-0 lead. You have to be a bit lenient with younger players though.”
Germany captain Joshua Kimmich agreed with Low’s assessment, adding: “I think our performance is a tale of two halves. The first half was good, we did well. Then, in the second half, we lost possession quickly and they came back from two goals down.
“Unfortunately that has happened to us a few times with the national team. I don’t believe that anybody is worried about or afraid of conceding goals. We didn’t have enough of the ball and so it was difficult to move into the spaces.”
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni was understandably pleased with his side’s second-half performance.
“The first half was not good, we made mistakes and we got caught,” he said in quotes reported by the team’s official Twitter account. “But the important thing is that we knew how to understand the game in the second.
“We made mistakes in the first half. In the second we treat the ball better and with more patience. I think overall it was a good game, with a lot of positives for what’s coming.
“In these matches performance matters, the result is secondary. In the second half there was a rather more determined Argentina.”
REUTERS