San Marino will be taken seriously, says Germany's Loew

BERLIN, Sep 5 (Reuters) Germany coach Joachim Loew said his players would respect tiny San Marino in their Euro 2008 Group D qualifier tomorrow.

''We want to win, we will win and we will not show ourselves up. I am sure of that,'' Loew told reporters in the Italian resort of Rimini where Germany are preparing for the match.

''We will simply give each of our opponents during our tour of Europe the appropriate respect,'' added Loew. ''Therefore we are preparing ourselves in a professional manner as usual.

''Of course, we will not be so taxed with San Marino than with opponents of a different calibre. But there are of course things that we are going to have to watch for.'' The trainer admitted that it was hard to get the players emotionally prepared for the match after their exploits in reaching the World Cup semi-finals on home turf.

''I will find the right words so that everyone knows what is at stake,'' he said.

Loew has guaranteed midfielder Tim Borowski a starting place after his good showing in training, although he was still to decide on the rest of the team.

''I expect the team will be hungry for goals,'' he said. ''In the first instance this is about getting three points but we also naturally want to put on a good show in front of the millions of viewers.'' Germany beat Ireland 1-0 in their opening Group D match on Saturday thanks to a deflected free kick from Lukas Podolski.

Reuters PDS GC2049