Germany's Loew admits mistakes in Sweden draw

Germany coach Joachim Loew has admitted making mistakes during his team's 4-4 draw with Sweden in last week's World Cup qualifier after the Germans threw away a four-goal lead. Germany were 4-0 up at Berlin's Olympic Stadium with more than an hour played before the hosts' defence folded in the final 30 minutes as Sweden roared back to claim a point last Tuesday. Midfielder Rasmus Elm wrote himself into Swedish football folklore with the dramatic right-footed equaliser in the 93rd minute to leave Sweden second in Group C, three points behind leaders Germany, but with a game in hand. It was the first time in the 104-year history of the German Football Federation (DFB) that a four-goal lead has been surrendered and the first time in three years Germany had dropped points in a qualifying match. Loew, whose team face the Netherlands in a friendly in Amsterdam next month, admits he could have done better and can understand criticism levelled at him. "Of course I can, absolutely," Loew said in an interview with SID, an AFP subsidiary. "I also couldn't believe the game was turning. "Maybe I could have sent out a signal by making a substitution, with a defensive man who could have provided some relief to the team. "I had also not experienced something like this in 20 years. I will also learn from this." With debate now raging in Germany as to what went wrong, Loew said he could understand the criticism because he was "also stung" by the draw. "Our players had the feeling of certain victory and didn't imagine it would come down to such a situation," he said. "Then we resorted to inappropriate means in order to try and turn things around by making basic mistakes. "If you want to avoid a sporting disaster like this, then you have to sometimes just do the simple things which put you in a strong position again." The head coach said he is convinced Germany will emerge stronger from the experience. "The situation will help us get back on course and rectify our weaknesses," he said. "Perhaps it will even be a positive. I would rather go through this now than wait until next autumn to slide into a negative situation. "We will grow from this situation and it won't happen again, of that I am certain. "I expect, and I also have to look at myself, that we work on solutions so that we don't get into a situation like that again."