Crisis? What crisis? Germany coach Joachim Low keeps calm ahead of crunch tie with Sweden

For a man peering into the eye of a storm, Joachim Low cut a remarkably serene figure. He was unflappable as he fielded an array of pressing questions with that familiar stony-faced glint but did not pass up an opportunity to lighten the mood when the opportunity arose.

A little later, the Germany coach did not appear to have a care in the world as he indulged in a few tricks and flicks in the centre circle on the Fisht Stadium pitch while his players warmed up ahead of their final training session before tomorrow night’s potentially pivotal game against Sweden.

If only his team had exuded such calm and conviction in their opening match against Mexico last Sunday, a result more shocking for the manner of defeat than the actual loss itself, their position at this World Cup would not be so fragile. If Germany lose to Sweden here and Mexico avoid defeat in the earlier game against South Korea, the world champions will become the fourth holders in the past five tournaments to be eliminated at the group stage.

In eight tournaments as either assistant coach or head coach of the Germans, Low has never exited before the semi-final stage, but the prospect of joining France (2002), Italy (2010) and Spain (2014) on that list of cursed champions looms large. “Of course, as the title holder and as the Confederations Cup winner, the situation we face now is a different one,” Low said.

“We’re in a position where everyone is highly motivated and determined to win against us, so it’s very difficult to maintain that motivation and hunger. That’s why in almost 100 years there are not many who have been able to retain the World Cup.

“Italy in 2010 and Spain in 2014 were not able to dominate and repeat the feat. It’s clearly not easy to achieve it. We have to show a reaction [to the Mexico defeat]. We have to deliver. If we win, we’re back in the race and we’ll see how the tournament progresses after that. But talking about that now makes no sense at all. We cannot look beyond this game.”

The fallout from the Mexico debacle has been brutal. Striker Mario Gomez likened the reaction back home to “an avalanche” and even Low admitted there was “a lot to digest” in the 48 hours that followed, although the fiercest criticism probably came from within the camp itself. A crisis meeting was held on Tuesday when frank words were exchanged between the players, Low and his staff and, publicly, there has been no attempt to mask their failings.

Low is not prone to knee-jerk reactions but the poverty of his team’s display against Mexico, when they overcommitted in attack and left gaping holes for their opponents to exploit on the transition, clearly shocked him and he could make four or five changes against Sweden.

One has been enforced. Mats Hummels damaged a vertebrae in his neck in training and is expected to be replaced by his Bayern Munich team-mate, Niklas Sule. Jonas Hector could come in for Marvin Plattenhardt at left-back, Marco Reus is likely to replace Julian Draxler on the left flank and Ilkay Gundogan may deputise for Sami Khedira. Timo Werner could retain Low’s trust up front, despite Gomez knocking on the door.

Mesut Ozil was the target for the most sustained criticism but the Arsenal playmaker received a show of confidence from Low, who, for all his dismay at what he witnessed in Moscow, reminded Germany’s critics that the players were too experienced to allow one poor result to rock their confidence. “We’re all subject to criticism in terms of performance but this deep trust in players who have been playing three or four years at a top level will not be shaken by a single match,” he said. “They’ve won titles, so why should that change on the basis of one match? It’s not just Mesut Ozil, all the players received their fair share of criticism. But as far as Mesut Ozil is concerned, everyone knows I hold him in high esteem.

“We need people who go deep, vertical, who invest in running the full distance and cutting into opposing lines. We can’t do that by simply pinging the ball into the box. High balls, aerial play, Sweden will thank us for that so we need something different.”

Sweden, who beat South Korea 1-0 in their opening match thanks to captain Andreas Granqvist’s penalty, had their own problems on the eve of this match.

Defenders Pontus Jansson and Filip Helander and midfielder Marcus Rohden did not travel with the rest of the squad to Sochi this morning after being struck down by a stomach bug overnight. Janne Andersson was keen to avoid the risk of any other players falling ill, but given that the affected trio were not expected to start against Germany anyway, the problem was not as troubling for the Sweden coach as it might otherwise have been. The Swedes, who beat Italy in a play-off to reach the finals in Russia, have struck a bullish tone but Andersson dismissed any notion of overconfidence and urged his team to play the game of their lives.

“I think hubris is probably what we’re least afflicted by,” Janssen said. “This is what you spend your entire life and career working towards. It’s quite amazing, Germany were the big favourites ahead of tournament but we have the prospect of beating them to [potentially] knock them out and qualify for second stage. I don’t think many people could have imagined that.”

Sweden are a defensive, compact, physically imposing side who like to break and try to punish opponents on the counter-attack.

Germany had a dreadful time dealing with Mexico’s speed on the transition but Low is confident there will be no repeat.

“We’ve talked about that a lot – how can we avoid fast breaks on the counter attack,” he said. “We had numerous matches in qualifying against teams with a very defensive style. I am convinced the players will show a reaction.” They will have to.