Löw on a High as Germany Trounce Hapless Swedes 3-0

New Germany coach Joachim Löw enjoyed a winning start as his side trounced a hapless Sweden 3-0 in a friendly in Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday, increasing their goal tally by one on the result the World Cup hosts achieved when the two sides met in the second round of the finals in June.

It was the perfect beginning for Löw, who took over from Jürgen Klinsmann after this summer's World Cup, and the team will now be full of confidence for their first Euro 2008 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland in Stuttgart on September 2.

Even more so as the Irish were trounced 4-0 at home by the Netherlands also on Wednesday.

World Cup experience paying dividends

"We tried to bring the momentum from the World Cup into this match," explained Löw. "I think we did that and it was great to win my first game 3-0. It is a positive sign for the Euro qualifiers."

"I think you could see our team matured at the World Cup and we have a lot of confidence from that tournament. We just have to carry on in the Euro qualifiers."

For his Swedish counterpart Lars Lagerbäck it was a case of an unpleasant deja vu. "It was almost a repeat of the World Cup," bemoaned Lagerbäck. "We played against one of the best teams in the world tonight and if they play like they did tonight they will qualify for the European championships."

Cup stars form backbone of Löw's team

Löw started with seven of the team that defeated Portugal 3-1 in the World Cup third-place play-off under Klinsmann's regime and watched on as Germany raced into a two-goal lead after just eight minutes.

Bernd Schneider scored only his second international goal in the fourth minute after a clever cutback from Tim Borowksi.

World Cup Golden boot winner Miroslav Klose, presented with his German Player of the Year award before the game, then stole center stage taking advantage of some slack defending to bend in an eighth minute shot.

Game over by half-time

Sweden were shell-shocked -- just like they were when Germany scored twice in the first 12 minutes of their last 16 World Cup victory -- and it got worse.

Klose grabbed a second with a trademark header in the 44th minute taking his tally to 31 goals in 63 matches.

The Werder Bremen forward is now his country's current top-scorer along with captain Michael Ballack, who missed the game due to an injury he sustained for Chelsea in Sunday's 2-1 Community Shield defeat to Liverpool.

Sweden were also missing key stars such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Freddie Ljungberg and it showed.

With a 3-0 half-time lead, Löw handed international debuts to Hertha Berlin left back Malik Fathi, the son of a German mother and Turkish father, and Mainz 05 defender Manuel Friedrich.

As was to be expected, the second half tailed off with Germany reducing the pace of their game and Sweden going through the motions.

German confidence will now be high for the Ireland match, while Sweden must regroup ahead of their first Euro 2008 qualifier against Latvia on September 2.