Werder Bremen striker almost single handedly disposed of Sweden in Germany's first match since the World Cup finals. With the fifth brace of his international career and a goal from Bernd Schneider, Klose and Co. beat Sweden 3:0 (3:0). The Werder man now joins the elite 'Top Ten' all-time goal scorers for Germany. In front of 53,000 spectators at the Gelsenkirchen Arena Klose was joined in the starting eleven by his club colleagues Tim Borowski and Torsten Frings. During the game both Frings (74') and Klose (46') were substituted but Borowski played the full 90 minutes.
As in the World Cup second round clash (2:0), the German national team got off to a flying start against Sweden. Just as on July 24th in Munich, the lead for the German side fell in the fourth minute but on this occasion it was Bernd Schneider and not Lukas Podolski with the goal. The Leverkusen man got on the end of a long pass from Tim Borowski which cut the Swedish defence and Schneider put away his second goal in 72 international game.
In the eight minute, Klose made it 2:0. The World Cup 'Golden-Boot' winner, who recieved his 'Player of the Year' award before the game took on a loose ball and broke through both Kim Källström and Peter Hansson to finish with the outside of his left boot.
Tim Borowski (13'), Miroslav Klose (31') and Bastian Schweinsteiger (39') all missed good chances to extend the German lead. A Sedish team without it's starts Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Fredrik Ljungberg, Henrik Larsson (retired)
and several others had nothing to offer against a clearly superior German side being coached by new trainer Joachim Löw for the first time. Just before the break Klose then made it 3:0. The 28 year old climbed in text book fashion to meet a Schweinsteiger cross in the 44th minute and head past a stranded keeper.
For the start of the second hald both Malik Fathi (Hertha BSC Berlin) and Manuel Friedrich (FSV Mainz 05) made their international debuts. The home side started the second half much as they'd finished the first with Schweinsteiger curling a shot just over the Swedish crossbar.
In the 62nd minute, Borowski brought the best out of Swedish keeper Rami Shabaan with a low drive which the keeper managed to turn around the post. The game soon after took a turn for the worse and the tough pre-season preparations were clear to see as the players began to tire as the match wore on.
Tim Borowski was involved again in the 76th minute hammering a Gerald Asamoah touch back wide of the goal. Sweden eventually got around the German penalty area but Johan Elmader's shot in the 78th minute was blocked away.
German coach Joachim Löw was clearly satisfied with his sides performance: "We attempted to take the euphoria from the World Cup into this game with us. We put on the pressure heavily in the early stages. The team have become more mature and have now made a good start to the new round of international games. Malik Fathi and Manuel Friedrich have settled into the team well", he explained.