It's probably a little bit too early to start writing the German national side's obituaries, but the World Champions certainly got a shock to the system on Saturday night, falling to a 2-0 defeat against Poland--their first qualifying loss since 2007. Joachim Low will not panic, but he knows that Die Adler could do with a result against the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday night.
"The atmosphere within the team is not bad, but we badly want these three points"
- Joachim Low
Speaking to the assembled press, Low seemed confident that his plays had not loss their belief, instead they were more determined: "The atmosphere within the team is not bad, it is good," he said. "The players have been self-critical, we talked about our missed chances against Poland. If you ask me what the mood is like now, fury is the wrong word, anger is the wrong word. But what you can feel is some kind of determination, that we badly want these three points against Ireland. The Germany boss refused to underestimate Martin O'Neil's side, who thrashed Gibraltar 7-0 this weekend saying: "We have seen both the Irish games and have analysed them, and we can expect some sort of copy of Poland. There's nothing new to us. The Irish are good fighters, they have commitment and fantastic fighting spirit, and they know how to defend."
For the Irish, they come into this game brimming with confidence and will a real chance of making it to France for the European Championships in 2016. They sit second behind Poland in Group D by virtue of goal difference, one place ahead of their hosts Germany. A 2-1 win over Gibraltar got them off to a good start, and the 7-0 drubbing of Georgia - including an eighteen-minute Robbie Keane hat-trick - has got the fans feeling optimistic of their chances.
O'Neil knows, however, that this game will be a different kettle of fish to the previous two, and his assistant Roy Keane has described Germany as a 'wounded animal'. Despite the challenge, O'Neil spoke of his side's excitement for the tie: “We’re looking forward to the game immensely,” O’Neill said. "They’ll be formidable opponents but I hope our mind-set is exactly the same as Saturday. The approach will be different in the sense that at home to Gibraltar we had to attack from the first minute of the game. Germany won’t allow us the same space – we’ll encounter many different problems. They are world champions and have a habit of winning but we’re very confident.”
Germany coach Low will be delighted to know that he has almost his full squad available for selection - the only absence being Christoph Kramer, who suffered an injury in the 2-0 loss to Poland. For O'Neil, Stoke striker Jon Walters is set to return to the starting line up instead of Wes Hoolahan, and both Jeff Hendrick and James McClean could make way for Stephen Quinn and Glen Whelan.