Kaiserslautern (Germany), March 26 (IANS) Reigning World Champions Germany were held to a 2-2 draw by Australia in their first football friendly of 2015 here.
Germany failed to recapture their World Cup form on Wednesday as they carved out a late draw on home soil, reports Xinhua.
The hosts were able to open the scoring through Marco Reus before Australia scored twice to grab the lead, thanks to James Troisi and Mile Jedinak. Nevertheless, Lukas Podolski’s equaliser avoided a surprising loss against Asian Cup winners.
Germany coach Joachim Loew made a couple of changes in his first 11 as he wanted to test new strategies and players who returned from injuries. This was noticeable as Germany staged an instable defence throughout the game.
As a consequence, the visitors needed only three minutes to create a promising chance when Matthew Leckie headed just wide of the target.
Australia’s chance was a wakening call for the hosts who turned up to execute in front of the visitors goal but neither Reus nor Ilkay Guendogan were able to break the deadlock.
The ‘Socceroos’ remained unimpressed and continued to pose danger for Germany’s defence. However, it were the hosts who opened the scoring with 17 minutes into the game when Reus tapped in Sami Khedira’s assist.
The resilient visitors kept it bowling and punished Germany with the leveller as Troisi headed home Nathan Burns’ cross into the box (40th minute).
Things turned from bad to worse for the hosts after the break as Mile Jedinak gave Australia the lead five minutes after the restart. Jedinak scored with a free-kick by curling the ball over the wall into the top left. Troisi had the chance to double up but the midfielder squandered by pulling wide.
In the closing period, Germany recovered and started to gain momentum. Thus, Lukas Podolski snatched the late equaliser (81st) when he tapped in Andre Schuerrle’s square pass.
“It was a hectic game for us. We started well into the game but failed to extend the lead. After the restart we were unable to gain a foothold,’ Loew said.
Germany will encounter Georgia for the Euro 2016 qualifier on Sunday.