Euro 2012: Joachim Loew pleased with Germany changes

 

Germany coach Joachim Loew praised his stand-in strikeforce after they swept past Greece and into the semi-finals of Euro 2012.

Loew took the bold step of leaving out Mario Gomez, Lukas Podolski and Thomas Mueller but saw Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus score in a 4-2 win.

Who is Marco Reus?

  • Born in Dortmund in May 1989
  • Scored 21 goals in 37 games for Borussia Monchengladbach last season
  • Earned a £15m move to hometown club Borussia Dortmund
  • Scored his second international goal against Greece

"I had a feeling after three wins that we had to make some changes to breathe some life into the team," Loew said.

"The time was ripe to do something different. I think they did it well."

New Borussia Dortmund signing Reus was particularly impressive down the right, while veteran Klose scored his 17th goal in a major tournament to move a step closer to Gerd Muller's all-time goalscoring record.

Klose - who was born in Poland - now has 64 goals for his adopted nation, just four behind Muller.

"I was glad that I got that goal," said Klose, who had been restricted to a place on the bench for the three games in Group B, with Gomez taking the lone striking role.

"I was really happy to be given the chance to start.

Marco Reus

Euro 2012 goal: Marco Reus smashes in Germany's fourth

"Our bench is very, very strong which makes us stand out. Anyone can come in and play, which is great for us."

Loew saw his new-look side dominate from the off, but they were wasteful in front of goal until captain Philipp Lahm fired them ahead.

"That was a class performance from the team to reach the semi-finals for the fourth tournament in a row," said Loew.

"We can be proud of the team.

"Greece is a curious team. They had one chance and scored two goals.

"But we didn't get nervous after 1-1, and the goals came."