Oezil backs under-fire Loew

Mesut Oezil has thrown his support behind under-fire Germany boss Joachim Loew, saying it would be nonsensical to sack the coach.

Loew’s men were heavy favourites to progress to the Euro 2012 final given they had won their previous 15 competitive internationals.

They boasted a 100 percent record at the Euros heading into the last-four clash against Italy, but they succumbed to a Mario Balotelli double, with Oezil’s late penalty proving in vain.

Loew has been castigated over his team selection, with reports suggesting that some of the changes he made caused unrest in the dressing room, but the 52-year-old coach has the full support of Oezil.

“We should not change everything because of one result,” the Real Madrid attacking midfielder told Welt am Sonntag. “We won 15 games with the same team.

“Because of one tight result, the three games in the group stage are being overlooked and now there is a discussion over sacking the coach.

“We have got a lot of praise for many years now, especially from abroad, so how is that everything is suddenly all wrong?

“To win a title, everything must be right. But you also need some luck. To have been in the semi-finals four times in a row (going back to the 2006 World Cup) is a great achievement.

“We’re doing everything to win a title but it’s not so easy.”

Germany have triumphed in just one of their four successive semi-finals, against Turkey at Euro 2008, but they were ultimately beaten by Spain in the final of that tournament.