Germany work on set pieces for Sweden clash

BERLIN, June 22 (Reuters) Germany's set-pieces have not been good enough at the World Cup and must improve against Sweden, assistant coach Joachim Loew today said.

Germany have scored eight goals in three matches at the World Cup but none of them have come from headers direct from corners and free kicks -- an area where Germany expect to excel.

Sweden scored both their goals in the 2-2 draw with England from set plays and Loew wants to see an improvement in defence and attack when they meet in the last 16 in Munich on Saturday.

''Of course Sweden can be a danger on set pieces,'' Loew said at a news conference. ''They have very sharp forwards who can be very precise.

''We'll study the variants they use, talk to the players and assign marking duties. We'll also have to make sure we don't gave away free kicks in dangerous situations.'' Loew programmed a series of set-piece moves for a training session that was partly closed today.

''But we have very good headers of the ball as well, like Michael Ballack and Torsten Frings. It's true we should have done more from set pieces in this tournament. We want to benefit from that side of the game on Saturday.'' Reuters SB DB2354