HAMBURG, Germany Germany recaptured their winning ways by beating Greece 2-0 on Saturday but new Head Coach Rudi Voeller said the three-time world champions still had plenty of work to do to rejoin the sport's elite.
"Times when Germany overcame opponents easily are over," Voeller said after watching his men launch their qualifying campaign for the 2002 World Cup finals.
The Germans' victory, in their first competitive match since their early departure from Euro 2000, was not as straightforward as the score suggested and the outcome might have been different without a string of brilliant saves from goalkeeper Oliver Kahn.
But at least they displayed the determination that was their trademark for decades but was absent in their European championship run.
As in last month's 4-1 friendly win over Spain in Voeller's first game in charge, the players, led by the creative skills of Bayern Munich midfielder Mehmet Scholl, attacked with enterprise during a performance full of commitment.
"We noticed again that the team want to put the European championship behind them," said Assistant Coach Michael Skibbe.
But there were again signs of nerves in defense, especially in the second half, as Voeller acknowledged.
"We concentrated on attacking and we left gaps at the back," said the 1990 World Cup striker.
"There are still parts of our game that don't function properly and it's a problem we must tackle but I'm particularly pleased with the fact that all the guys gave 100 percent." First Goal for Deisler Voeller's charisma and enthusiasm have made him an instant favorite with the local media.
"Rudi, that was fun," Bild and Sonntag wrote on Sunday while the other leading German Sunday newspaper, Welt am Sonntag, noted that a new era had begun in promising fashion.
Voeller, who will hand over to Christoph Daum, the current Bayer Leverkusen coach, in June next year, limited his changes, convinced that the players picked by predecessor Erich Ribbeck were the best available.
But he gave more responsibilities to the gifted Scholl and started with young Hertha Berlin midfielder Sebastian Deisler.
The 20-year-old, one of few genuine talents to have emerged in Germany over the last few years, repaid him by scoring his first goal for Germany on Saturday.
While Ribbeck was criticized for his blind faith in aging stars, most notably the now retired libero Lothar Matthaeus, Voeller made it clear that nobody was guaranteed a starting spot.
Captain Oliver Bierhoff, struggling for form after a long injury break, became the first victim of that strategy as he was left on the bench on Saturday.
There will be tougher tests for Germany on the road to the 2002 World Cup, starting with their next match away to England on October 7.
But even Franz Beckenbauer, who has had harsh words for the team he once graced, believes they are slowly getting better.
"We are still in hospital but we have left the intensive care unit," he said.
(Reuter)