World Cup

Joachim Low: 'Euro 2012 disappointment behind us'

By Subhankar Mondal, Reporter | 15 September 2012

Joachim Low says that Germany have put their Euro 2012 failure behind them and are focused on the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Germany coach Joachim Low has insisted that he and his players have put their Euro 2012 semi-final defeat to Italy behind them.

The Nationalelf went down 2-1 to the Azzurri at the National Stadium in Warsaw, thanks to a brace from Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli.

"We are no longer mourning the loss against Italy," Bild quotes Low as saying. "We have moved on from Euro 2012.

"It's not easy to start a qualification campaign again after a major tournament. We are still missing a few things and lack a bit of stability.

"It's a good thing that our flaws come to the fore now, though. We now know what we have to work on."

Low also reflected on Germany's success in international competitions over the past few years.

"We have made some huge steps forward in the past six years," he said. "The steps we make can obviously no longer be as big as before, though, now we've reached a certain level.

"We are not yet thinking about the World Cup itself at the moment. We are all in agreement that the only thing that matters for now is the qualification campaign."

Germany began their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign with successive victories over the Faroe Islands and Austria this month.