Loew ready for Mexico test

Germany’s Joachim Loew said he is looking forward to facing Mexico on Thursday in the Confederations Cup semifinals after the world champions pipped Chile to top spot in Group B.

The Germans play Mexico in Sochi for a place in next Sunday’s final in Saint Petersburg while Chile meet Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in the other last-four clash on Wednesday in Kazan.

“Mexico is going to be a tough game, they are a very flexible team with very good players,” said Loew, who became the first head coach to achieve 100 international wins.

“We don’t often play central American sides, so that will be interesting for us, but we need to be on our guard.”

Germany’s Timo Werner, 21, netted twice in Sunday’s win over 10-man Cameroon which saw them finish two points clear of Chile, who rallied for a 1-1 draw with Australia in Moscow.

Loew, in his 150th match in charge of Germany, maintained his impressive record of reaching the semifinals of every tournament over the last decade.

Loew praised his inexperienced side for overcoming Cameroon, but the Africans’ coach Hugo Broos lashed out at tournament organisers in Russia with just a year to go before they stage the World Cup.

The Belgian praised the “excellent” standard of the stadiums, but said heavy traffic hampered training sessions when they played in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

“On three different occasions we had to start our session an hour late, because we were stuck in traffic, even though we had a police escort from the hotel,” said Broos.