Argentina exacted a revenge of sorts over Germany, winning 3-1 in a friendly – thanks in part to an unfortunate own goal. Playing much of the match with only 10 men, Germany answered back just once.

Argentina were keen to take some vengeance for their 4-0 defeat to Germany at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. As it turned out, they eased past an undermanned but determined home side in Frankfurt.

The result will do little to ease coach Joachim Löw’s frustration with the raft of criticism that has followed the national side’s defeat to Italy at Euro 2012. The squad was accused of lacking leadership, being too pampered and failing to sing the national anthem with sufficient vigor.…

Germany coach Joachim Low wants to move on from his side’s Euro 2012 heartache with a strong performance in Wednesday’s international friendly against Argentina.

Germany’s defeat to Italy in the semi-finals in Poland and Ukraine triggered widespread criticism of the team’s performance, but Low says that one game will not define his tenure. Instead, he hit back at the critics and said he will not be changing his or his team’s ways.…

Marco Reus has been named as Germany’s footballer of the year in a poll conducted by Kicker magazine.

The Germany international picked up 217 votes from selected football writers in Germany, beating his new Borussia Dortmund team-mates Mats Hummels, Robert Lewandowski and Shinji Kagawa to the prize, which has been awarded annually since 1960. Second-placed Hummels receive less than half that tally.

Dortmund’s Jurgen Klopp was the overwhelming choice as coach of the year, ahead of Borussia Monchengladbach’s Lucien Favre and Christian Streich of Freiburg.…

Coach Joachim Loew was on Monday given the backing of the country’s football federation, nearly six weeks after his side was knocked out of the Euro 2012 semi-finals.

“We have heard a very convincing analysis of the Euros,” said the president of the DFB Wolfgang Niersbach after meeting Loew in the western city of Frankfurt, where the coach gave his assessment of the Mannschaft’s performance during the tournament.

“We absolutely agree with the sporting staff to say that the path chosen was the right one,” he added.

Germany were beaten 2-1 by Italy in the semi-final in Warsaw, leading to criticisms of Loew’s tactics and selections.…

Bastian Schweinsteiger is back to full fitness and ready to start the semi-final against Italy, Germany coach Joachim Low has said.

Schweinsteiger had been suffering a niggling ankle problem but was able to take a full part in training on Monday. Although he played in the 4-2 quarter-final win against Greece on Friday, Low said the midfielder had fallen short of his usual standards.…

Germany ran riot as captain Philipp Lahm, Sami Khedira, veteran striker Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus all got on the score-sheet to cancel out Giorgos Samaras’ and Dimitris Salpingidis’ second-half strikes for the Greeks.

Germany will now play England or Italy, who meet in Sunday’s Kiev quarter-final, in the semi-final at Warsaw’s National Stadium on Thursday as they inflicted Greece’s heaviest defeat at a European championships.…

Germany are planning to bide their time and eventually wear down defensive-minded Greece when they meet in the Euro 2012 quarterfinals Friday.

The Germans advanced through Group B with three wins from three games but the team is bracing for a much tougher defense than what they faced against Portugal, Netherlands and Denmark.

Greece conceded only five goals in 10 qualifiers, though they also let in three goals in three Group A games, advancing as runners-up behind the Czech Republic.…

Germany advanced to the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 on Sunday as defender Lars Bender scored his first international goal to seal their 2-1 win over Denmark which put the Danes out.

After Portugal’s 2-1 win over Holland in Kharkiv, another three points at Arena Lviv confirmed Germany as Group B winners with three victories while Portugal progress as runners-up from the so-called “Group of Death”.

The Germans will now play Friday’s quarter-final against Group A runners-up Greece in Gdansk, their Euro 2012 base, while Portugal will play the Group A winners the Czech Republic in Warsaw on Thursday.

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