Joachim Low: Defeat won't decide fate of four debutants

Germany coach Joachim Low says he is not holding his four debutants responsible for a 3-1 defeat to Slovakia which was a welcome wake-up call ahead of Euro 2016.

Joachim Low: Defeat won't decide fate of four debutants

Germany coach Joachim Low says he is not holding his four debutants responsible for a 3-1 defeat to Slovakia which was a welcome wake-up call ahead of Euro 2016.

Bernd Leno, Julian Brandt, Julian Weigl and Joshua Kimmich all picked up their first senior caps on a night which will not have helped Low a great deal as he ponders who to leave out of his final 23-man selection for this summer's European Championship.

However, he said the prospects of the quartet he blooded have not been influenced by his team's collective performance on a sodden Augsburg pitch.

"It's the overall impression I have got from them over recent weeks and months which will matter," Low told ARD television.

"We cannot expect everything from the young lads in a game like this, but all four of them have quality and they've got bright futures.

"After a game like this, what matters most is that we don't have any injuries.

"We've got a meeting with the doctors now to see how long Mats Hummels, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Marco Reus are going to need before they are fit."

Mario Gomez's penalty was cancelled out before half-time by Marek Hamsik and Michal Duris, and Juraj Kucka added a third after an error by goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

The performance of Leroy Sane, who is one of the players Low must make a decision about on Tuesday, was one of the few positives to emerge from the defeat.

"I was happy with our forwards," Low said. "We had a few good attacks and made some good runs, but to be quite honest we still have problems in defence.

"Maybe that's also because we played with two support men, in Mario Gotze and Julian Draxler. That gave Slovakia too much room."

The heavy rain which fell during half-time and forced a delay in the restart of play almost made a mockery of the second half, but according to Gotze it was a useful exercise.

"I think it's good for us to have to play in these difficult conditions here," said the Bayern Munich playmaker.

"We've got to be ready for everything in France so it's not bad to test this.

"It was hard to play in these conditions in the second half, but I was glad to get 90 minutes under my belt and I'm looking forward to the games to come."

Germany face Hungary in their final warm-up match ahead of Euro 2016 next Saturday.

Their first Euro 2016 fixture is against Ukraine on June 12.

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