Confidence boost

Germany prepared for their Euro 2012 qualifiers with a 2-1 friendly win over Uruguay on Sunday.

Goals from Bayern Munich's Mario Gomez and Mainz's Andre Schürrle gave the hosts a clear lead, before Uruguay struck back through Napoli's Walter Gargano.

Germany got off to a jittery start at Sinsheim, with Atletico Madrid's Diego Forlan and Liverpool's Luis Suarez threatening to score first.

However, it was Gomez who found the net after just 20 minutes - stealing the ball from Diego Lugano and beating two defenders to fire in past goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.

In the 35th minute it was Schürrle, having won only his third cap for Germany, who curled the ball into the net after Mesut Özil found him through a gap in the South Americans' defense.

Uruguay were denied a goal before the break when Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer spilled the ball into his own net after a shot by Forlan which was deemed to be off-side.

It was on 48 minutes that Uruguay got back into the game, when Germany's defense failed to clear the ball properly allowing Gargano to score with a low shot from 11 meters out.

With Özil replaced by Miroslav Klose for the second half, Germany's attackers failed to truly impose themselves as Uruguay came close to an equalizer.

However, the score line remained unchanged by the end of the match - a replay of last year's third-place World Cup play-off which Germany also won.

Encouraging signs

For Germany coach Joachim Löw, the performance was encouraging ahead of Germany's Euro 2012 qualifier against Austria on Friday.

"I saw many things I really liked, especially in the first half," said Löw. "In the second half, we made some small mistakes and it was difficult to control the match because we made a few replacements."

Gomez, whose goal was his 16th in 44 international matches, was pleased but said the team could have done more to press its advantage.

"We tried to play deep balls, scored two nice goals and should have scored more. We played a good game," said Gomez.

Germany - who lead their qualifying group with five wins from five games - follow their match in Austria with a trip to Azerbaijan on June 7, while Uruguay play in the Copa America from July 1.

Author: Richard Connor (AFP, Reuters, dpa)
Editor: Sarah Harman