体坛英语新闻：Joachim Loew rejects EURO 2012 criticism by media

BERLIN, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Germany coach Joachim Loew on Monday criticised the coverage by the media as "tiresome" and "unrewarding" after his side's 2-1 loss to Italy at the Euro 2012 semifinals.

The 52-year-old took over the German national team after the World Cup in 2006 to restructure the team implementing young talented players. Gradually the "Nationalelf" staged good performances to finish on second at the Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, and on third at the World 2010 in South Africa.

The good performances by the German side made them one of the favourites at the Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, but, other than expected, Germany were knocked out at the semifinals by Italy.

"After the World Cup in South Africa we wanted to form a team that can win a title. Therefore, the defeat at the semi finals to Italy was particularly painful," Loew told a press conference.

The loss at the semifinals had led to a widespread criticism of the teams performance and concept.

Loew rejected the criticism and affirmed that he will not shift his concept of the squad: "Before the Italy loss we won fifteen matches in a row which is a world record therefore we will absolutely stick to our long-term concept. Of course I accept the sporting criticism and with all humility I will try to draw lessons from it but parts of the criticism are indeed unrewarding."

Nonetheless, Germanys coach is looking forwards to the qualifiers for the World Cup 2014 in Brazil. "The anticipation is great. We have set high expectation with our style of play," Loew added.

Germany will host Argentina for a friendly on Wednesday in Frankfurt.