Germany put four past hapless Swiss

By Mark Ledsom

BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) - Germany got their Euro 2008 preparations back on track on Wednesday with an emphatic 4-0 win over tournament co-hosts Switzerland.

Two goals from Mario Gomez in between strikes from Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski secured a comfortable win for Joachim Loew's side who have now gone 51 years and 18 matches without losing to their southern neighbours.

Germany came into the match with doubts over the fitness and form of several key players but never looked in danger of surrendering their historical superiority over the Swiss.

After a strong start including two good chances in the opening two minutes, the visitors were gifted a 23rd minute lead when Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio failed to deal with a low cross from Gomez.

The newly-established Swiss number one let the ball squirm underneath his outstretched body allowing Klose to easily tap in his 38th international goal.

Benaglio acquitted himself better as the half wore on, first dealing with a fierce strike from Thomas Hitzlsperger and then reacting quickly to block a low Michael Ballack drive with his feet.

Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, under scrutiny since losing his first-choice place at Arsenal, had much less to do at the other end -- comfortably making his first real save when Alex Frei headed the ball straight at him on the half hour mark.

GOMEZ DOUBLE

Switzerland pushed up the pitch in the second half but were promptly punished by two Gomez goals in the space of six minutes.

The in-form Stuttgart striker fired in a superb left-foot effort in the 61st minute after collecting a neat pass on the edge of the area from Clemens Fritz.

Gomez then slotted home his second with similar aplomb, this time following a perfectly weighted through-ball from substitute Lukas Podolski.

Podolski then got himself on the score-sheet in the 89th minute, beating the Swiss off-side trap and rounding Benaglio to complete a miserable night for the home side.

"By and large I'm satisfied," said Loew, whose side came in for criticism last month after a 3-0 win over Austria which was far less convincing than the scoreline suggested.

"We played well from the start and were well-organised. It was clear that we wanted to play more aggressively and more intensively than we did against Austria.

"Every time Lukas (Podolski) has come on he's done well and Gomez showed how dangerous he is in the second half. I'm glad we've got so many options for Euro 2008."

Switzerland coach Koebi Kuhn had less cause for optimism but promised his team would bounce back in time for the June tournament which they are co-hosting with neighbouring Austria.

"We played against a German team that was dominant in all areas," Kuhn acknowledged. "But we also helped them out.

"It's obviously painful but I can only congratulate Germany and we will just have to rehabilitate ourselves at the tournament itself."

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