By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Germany's first victory on Dutch soil since 1996 undoubtedly was a surprise. But what does the 3-2 win against the Netherlands mean for national coach Joachim Loew and struggling German football?
The prospect of relief for Loew couldn't be more significant. The under-fire coach has secured his position. His risk, to re-structure his squad with drastic steps by leaving out cornerstones such as Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng, and Thomas Mueller paid off as Hoffenheim's Nico Schulz scored the winning goal in the dying minutes.
Germany's young enchanting forwards such as Leroy Sane (Manchester City), Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich) and Timo Werner (RB Leipzig) helped to lift the 2014 World Champion to a new level after a disastrous 2018 with an early group exit at the 2018 World Cup followed by the disappointing demotion in the Nations League.
Counting on the youngsters' speed widens the options for Loew.
But things might change soon for Loew and Germany when facing smaller football teams on the road to the 2020 European Championships. Against Northern Ireland, Belarus and Estonia the newly formed German team will have to run the game and can hardly rely on counter-attacking tactics.
Loew will have to teach his team to operate with several tactical patterns. Achieving that requires a lot of work as the promising team is lacking experience. German football is still far away from the sovereignty the football nation has been used to for many decades.
Having beaten their old rival means Loew and Germany can benefit from a good start, but will have to continue to gain back the supporter's trust.
The team's problems in the second half, the Netherlands scored the equalizer and dominated the game, tell the story. Germany couldn't respond to the Netherlands new approach after half time. Loew's newly formed defense around Bayern's Niklas Suele narrowly survived the Dutch attacks.
But Loew achieved what not many had expected: A second chance.
He and his side have done the first necessary steps as the alarm bells stopped ringing. On top, Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer justified the trust the coach had placed in him by delivering world-class safes after several weaker games with Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen pushing from behind.
Loew in the future though might have to change his mind on Germany's number one.
Bayern's Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich, Dortmund's Marco Reus and Manchester Cities Ilkay Guendogan indicated they could be the pillars of a new German team with the help of the remaining stars such as Real Madrid's Toni Kroos and Neuer.
Loew can take a deep breath until qualification games are to be continued in June against Belarus and Estonia. Then Germany has to address the favorite's role again with all that comes with it.
The 59-year-old can be seen as the winner but can hardly lean back and enjoy his coup in the Netherlands. Enditem
