Jeers Not Cheers As Germany Beat China

It was Germany's first clean sheet in nine games but it could not disguise some shaky moments with stand-in captain Oliver Kahn called upon to make two crucial saves against a team ranked 45 places lower in the FIFA rankings.

"This was good preparation for the World Cup as we will come up against teams who just sit back and defend like China did tonight," declared Germany manager Jürgen Klinsmann. "We have to find a way to break them down but we showed during the Confederations Cup that we can do that when required."

But despite getting his team back to winning ways, Klinsmann faced derision from the home crowd, a reaction the coach said he completely understood. "I completely understand them for jeering," Klinsmann said.

Candid coach admits fans had right to boo

"One expects us to score a few more goals against China. The expectations are higher. But it's not a problem. Obviously we’d rather be cheered. But we understand the fans. Next time we hope to get applause again."

"The boos are part of the game," added Klinsmann, who enjoyed a love-hate relationship with many sets of fans during his long and varied playing career.

Speaking of the criticism now coming his ways as trainer of the national team he said, "Coaches also have to go through the experience. You absorb what people are saying. It's not the case that coaches are exempt from criticism. We are all very self-critical. And when it doesn't work we have to accept the criticism and the jeers."

Re-jigged defense holds firm

Klinsmann reshuffled the defense with Borussia Dortmund's Christoph Metzelder (photo, center), whose career has been hindered by injuries, making his first appearance since February 2002.

In the opening exchanges Metzelder was strolling around as Germany made the running and Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger forced a fine save from Li Leilei in the 29th minute.

China were far from overawed though and spurned two good chances to take the lead shortly before the interval. In the 43rd minute Xie Hui was clear through on goal but curled the ball wide with Kahn forced to rush out of his goal and narrow down the angle.

Sixty seconds later Kahn was called into action again with defender Sun Jihai forcing a fine low save as the German backline wobbled.

Critical captain Kahn passified by clean sheet

"The positive thing was the result and the fact we did not concede," said Kahn. "We have high expectations and this was far from a vintage performance. But the win gives us a push in the right direction."

The half-time break came to Germany's rescue and six minutes into the second period the hosts were in front. Bernd Schneider was felled by China captain Li Weifeng in the box and Frings watched with relief as his spot-kick crept past goalkeeper Leilei.

Chinese come out of game with honor intact

"Germany were under pressure after losing to Turkey but they coped well," concluded China coach Zhu Guanghu. "We can take a lot out of this game and it will aid our development."

The goal visibly lifted Germany and they dominated proceedings but China rattled the post in the 76th minute.

But there was no equalizer for China who have failed to qualify for the World Cup finals and must now concentrate on hosting the 2008 Olympic Games in Peking.