Germany to restore confidence with victory over Cyprus

Germany booked their ticket for the finals in Austria and Switzerland last month before the setback of a embarrassing 3-0 home defeat against the Czech Republic.

 It was Germany's first loss in what was before a convincing qualifying campaign.

 Coach Joachim Loew has urged a better effort on Saturday in Hanover as well as in the final qualifier Wednesday in Frankfurt against Wales to boost morale again at the self-proclaimed Euro title contender.

 Loew called for "two victories that we can go into the next year with the necessary confidence and make the fans happy."

   "We will be demanding a lot and not tolerate certain things," said Loew. "Concentration is the main issue of the week."

   Jens Lehmann will be the starting goalkeeper despite his problems at Arsenal and Bayern Munich striker Miroslav Klose returns from injury. Klose will likely team up with Mario Gomez from champions VfB Stuttgart who has found his form again.

 But Loew misses a handful of key midfielders: captain Michael Ballack, Torsten Frings, Bernd Schneider and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

 However, there is still plenty of quality left, with Tim Borowski, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Roberto Hilbert and Marcell Jansen expected to start in midfield.

 "It was important to be nominated again after a terrible year," said the Bremen player Borowski, who is back after being plagued by injury for months.

 Victory is a must on Saturday against a Cyprus team which has no chance of qualifying from group D where Germany and the Czechs have advanced.

 But Cyprus managed a 1-1 draw in the teams' first meeting on the Mediterranian island, and want to impress on foreign soil as well.

 Like Loew, coach Angelos Anastasiadis misses several key players such as Nektarios Alexandrou and Marios Ilia, with striker Yiannis Okkas and midfielder Christos Maragos doubtful.

 "we will be ready as a team. I know that Germany have a great team. You can not afford any weakness against such opponents," said Anastasiadis.By Jens Mende, dpa