Germany coach sees tough task ahead for his undefeated side

Fresh from victory in the Euro 2012 quarterfinals, Germany coach Joachim Loew warned England could be a tough nut to crack if the old rivals meet in the semifinals.

Loew's attractive attacking side, who beat Greece 4-2 in Friday's quarterfinals, will play its semifinal on June 28 in the Polish capital of Warsaw against the winner of Sunday's clash between England and Italy.

In their last meeting, in the round of 16 at the 2010 World Cup, Germany crushed England 4-1.

But Loew (pictured) warned that they are no longer the same team.

"England is much better under Roy Hodgson than in 2010. They are much better organized. They counter-attack fast," he said. "Back then, England were motivated. England are now much more organized. In a short space of time - and he's known for this - Roy Hodgson has built a really good, compact team, and a team ready for their opponents.

"They're not so open any more, they're not so divided as they were in 2010. Now they really play as a team.

"They're tactically much better than in 2010," he said.

Italy is likewise no longer the same team that tumbled out of the 2010 World Cup group stage - the first time a defending world champion had exited so early - Loew underlined.

"They are very good at the back, they can play very well. They are very organized, they have very, very fast, dangerous players up front, very dangerous on the counter-attack," he said.

While German is seen as a strong candidate to win Euro 2012, Loew insisted there were no such things as favorites once a tournament reached the last four.

"All the teams who will be in the semifinals will have a chance for the title," he said.

"There will be four teams in the semifinals that will be at a very, very high level, all about the same level.

"We know that in games like this, just small, small little things can decide a game, so you can't really allow yourselves to make any mistakes."

Germany is the second nation to claim a berth in the last four, after Portugal beat the Czech Republic 1-0 on Thursday in Warsaw.

"Portugal are now in the semifinals, they've gotton much better," Loew said.

"There's a lot of nations with a lot of experience. You can't really differentiate between the teams at this level."

Agence France-Presse in Gdansk, Poland

(China Daily 06/24/2012 page12)