Elated Loew seeks to dampen German euphoria

By Kevin Fylan

TENERO, Switzerland (Reuters) - Germany coach Joachim Loew enjoyed Sunday's 2-0 win against Poland as much as anyone but the coach was quick to point out the team's faults in a bid to dampen any early Euro 2008 euphoria.

"It was a great experience," Loew, who is in his first tournament as head coach, told reporters after two goals from Lukas Podolski took Germany top of Group B.

"There is always a current that shoots through you when you sit on the bench during a game. It was a great atmosphere and every one is happy to get this tournament underway.

"But I think we've got to stay down to earth. At the end of the first half we let ourselves drop back too far, we did not have the confidence we needed, our organisation wasn't great and we lost the ball too often.

"We've got to improve. We've got a long way ahead of us."

Germany took the lead in the 20th minute after Podolski finished off a swift move involving fellow forwards Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose.

REAL COMMAND

They lost their momentum before the break after chances came and went, however, and it was only when Podolski smashed in with 18 minutes to go that they regained real command.