Germany coach Loew admits failure at Euro 2008 final

VIENNA, June 29 -- Germany coach Joachim Loew committed that Spain have been the better team to win the Euro championship after his side lost 1-0 to the Spaniard here on Sunday.

"I think we have to recognize the high quality of the Spanish team. They have been technically excellent and have more chances tonight than those we have," said the trainer who won respect after leading the German side to a better result in the 2008 tournament than Jurgen Klinsmann did.

"At this moment, we are disappointed that we didn't win, but we could be satisfied with the tournament as a whole," he added. "We have a lot of fun and really enjoyed everything."

"We'll work hard into the coming years and to reach our target of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup finals."

Loew declined to comment on the match right after tasting the bitter failure, as well as on the Italian referee who gave some controversial decisions less favoring the Germans during Sunday evening's process of the final.

"Don't expect me to underlight the match here and now," argued 48-year-old. "We're gonna do that in the coming days. Once we're calming down, we could do that much better, because now there's too much emotions, because the tournament is not always played in the way we should play."

"They (Spain) could play a very high level, so they are deserved to win the final," he added. "And my players just have done their best."

"I have no special sense to say with the referee. He did his job very well. I don't comment on referees," Loew emphasized further.

Nor will Loew admit that Germany lost the final on the "out" football they played.

"It has been the focus for a long time. The techniques, like ball possession, have been specific for football, and Spain is very good at that. But we're able to show that we are as fast too," he said.

"We are right in front of Europe and worldwide. Nevertheless we have to do our football by ensuring that we must not lose energy and we must go improving," he commented.

Germany captain Michael Ballack, who's confirmed fit to start for the final just minutes before it kicked off, was in lackluster form, keeping invisible on the field and feeding few to the front, while Loew did not complain any.

"I was just glad this afternoon when they indicated that Ballack could play for us. It's good to have him now. We tried our best and so did Ballack. But today we didn't have many chances," he said.

"It's not the moment to comment on his performance," loew continued to say. "He's always important for us. He's the captain, he did a lot of things, he's our leader, and he represents the team very well."

Referring to Fernando Torres who scored the sole goal Sunday night, Loew said: "That's Torrers, of course. We knew that he's dangerous and also fast. He's on top and has a lot of ball in the league also."