Denmark defeat shows Voeller has much work to do

Wednesday's 2-1 defeat by Denmark proved Rudi Voeller is only human and Germany still have a long way to go to recapture their place at the top of the world game.

"With a 2-2 draw we would have entered the winter break unbeaten but we didn't deserve such a result," said Voeller, who had guided the team to three successive victories.

The German head coach, who has yet to lose in seven games since taking over at Bayer Leverkusen, was hoping the most turbulent year in Germany's soccer history would end with a win.

Instead he experienced the first defeat in his young coaching career after watching the Danes outplay a dull and limited German team.

"The Danes played with more enthusiasm and that was key," the former striker said after a defeat which brought back memories of the 1992 European championship final when Denmark won 2-0.

"You can't beat such a team if you only give 80 or 90 percent. We watched them play too much in midfield." Voeller, who was appointed on a caretaker basis after Germany's awful Euro 2000 campaign and has since been given the job until 2002, was without several first choice players, notably midfielders Jens Jeremies and Sebastian Deisler.

Both were sorely missed as Germany looked short as ideas in midfield and nervous in defence in a performance reminiscent of their embarrassing Euro 2000 outings.

NO HARMONY

"We stood too far away from them and then we had no other option than man-to-man marking in defence," said central defender Jens Nowotny. "We did not give 100 percent. We fought but there was no harmony."

Voeller, who was persuaded to stay on as a permanent basis after coach-designate Christoph Daum failed a drugs test last month, has plenty of time to prepare for Germany's next match, a friendly against France in February in Paris.

Daum told Bild newspaper on Thursday that he had passed a second test in the United States which had turned up negative. The German Football Association (DFB) declined to make immediate comment. Goalkeeper Oliver Kahn said he did not think the Denmark defeat would affect the team's morale.

"I don't think this will really hurt our self confidence," he said. "We have already demonstrated that we could play well under pressure. Now we have to prove that again when we play France."

Kahn said he was fully aware that Germany still had plenty of work to do.

"Perhaps this setback comes just at the right time," he said. "Now we all know where we stand. "I hope that in our next match against France, everybody will give his all from the start. Otherwise there could be another failure."