By DPA,
Moenchengladbach (Germany) : Germany are not shedding any tears over Kevin Kuranyi as they gear up to play Wales in a 2010 World Cup qualifier Wednesday night.
The three-time world champions are coming off a morale-boosting 2-1 victory against Russia in which they played a superb first half before running into trouble through poor defending after the break.
Michael Ballack and company meet a defensive-minded Welsh team Wednesday, with patience likely the key.
“Wales play differently than Russia. They defend well, are a typical British team,” said coach Joachim Loew on Monday.
“Our aim is six points from those two games. The victory against Russia would be worth nothing if we lose against Wales.”
As a result, Loew did not want to dwell on Kuranyi, who was fired from the team Sunday after leaving during halftime of the Russia match in frustration about not even being chosen as a substitute.
The Schalke striker Kuranyi apologised during a news conference Monday, saying he faced a difficult situation over the past years “as a player and a human being,” for instance not being picked for the 2006 home World Cup.
But Loew insisted that “I can’t look after just one player” and added: “I didn’t want this situation … (But) the decision has been made and we must look ahead to Wednesday.”
Loew has no offensive shortcomings with Lukas Podolski, Miroslav Klose and Mario Gomez, even though the VfB Stuttgart forward Gomez damaged his hand in training.
The starting 11 is yet to be revealed but Loew said that no player is guaranteed a place just because of good showings in the past – as was the case with midfielder Torsten Frings who was benched until late in the game against Russia.
Loew has several options in midfield and attack while Bayer Leverkusen’s Rene Adler will be in goal again after a strong debut against the Russians.
German top Group 4 with seven points but Wales sit on six after beating Liechtenstein 2-0 and have set their sights on creating a surprise Wednesday – like they did in a 0-0 draw last year in qualifying for Euro 2008.
Germany were already assured of qualifying at the time but Wales captain Criag Bellamy is nonetheless upbeat.
“We can score goals against decent teams, and there is no more decent side than Germany. It may sound strange, but to play against the bigger, better teams is easier,” said Bellamy.