Loew calls for wins in final Euro qualifiers - Schweinsteiger injured

Coach Joachim Loew said on Wednesday that there will be no excuses if his team doesn't win against Cyprus on Saturday in Hanover and against Wales next week Wednesday in Frankfurt.

 Germany qualified last month for the finals in Switzerland and Austria but then suffered an embarrassing 3-0 home defeat against the Czech Republic which cast a shadow over the campaign.

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

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

   Loew was due to analyse the Czech setback - Germany's only loss in qualifying - with his players later Wednesday because the poor showing needed a review.

 But the players are aware that they must rebound now.

 "We want to show that that it was only a small weakness which means nothing," said defender Per Mertesacker.

 While the players appear to be ready for good results, there was another injury setback for Loew when Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger had to leave the team quarters with a knee injury and will miss the games.

 He joins an injury list headed by captain Michael Ballack and further depletes the German midfield which is also without regulars Torsten Frings and Bernd Schneider. Schalke 04 debutant Jermaine Jones also had to quit injured at the weekend.

 In addition, Bremen midfielder Tim Borowski missed Wednesday training due to a flu.

 Loew is happy that Germany are qualified ahead of the last two rounds and don't share the fate of England, world champions Italy or France who must still fear for their berth.

 But Loew has a big worry looking ahead at the finals, goalkeeper Jens Lehmann who is not a starter at Arsenal and may be best advised to leave the Premier League leaders during the winter break.

 Lehmann said earlier this week he can even imagine playing in Germany's second division to get matches ahead of the Euro finals in Austria and Switzerland, a precondition that he keeps his number one status over Valencia's Timo Hildebrand and Hanover goalkeeper Robert Enke.

 "We must sit down and discuss what's the best (for Lehmann and the team)," said Loew. By Jens Mende, dpa