Germany thrash Luxembourg

MANNHEIM, Germany, June 5 (AFP)

Veteran Jurgen Klinsmann was on target on Friday as Germany hammered Luxembourg 7-0 in a World Cup warm-up here. Ulf Kirsten set the ball rolling with the first goal in the 6th minute before Klinsmann, in fine form for Spurs towards the seasons end, made it two after 15 minutes. Thomas Helmer bagged the third on 28 minutes before Kirsten scored another on the stroke of half-time. Oliver Bierhoff, whose golden goal won Germany the 1996 European Championship, then blasted two more before his future AC Milan teammate Christian Ziege wrapped things up six minutes from the end. It was the ideal match to boost the European champions confidence with the proceeds going to charity. Childrens groups will be the main beneficiaries with the home side wearing the slogan "Make Children Strong" on their white shirts. Around 250,000 Marks has been earmarked for the victims of this weeks train disaster in northern Germany which claimed the lives of at least 96 people. A minutes silence was held prior to the kick-off in remembrance of the victims. "It was a nice game for the strikers, allowing us to improve our goal tallies,"  Bierhoff said. "I hope it benefits the people it was meant to raise money for. For us it was a good training exercise just before the World Cup."  Coach Berti Vogts was unusually relaxed on the sidelines, applauding his players many goals and replacing his usual glare with a grin on several occasions. "I wanted a good result and a clear improvement over our performance against Colombia last weekend (3-1 for Germany) and we did just that,"  Vogts said with satisfaction. Most of the German squad got a run in a game marked by its relaxed nature. Olaf Thon was outstanding in the midfield, dispensing the ball at will to his men up front. Luxembourgs coach Paul Philipp stressed before the game that Germany were the "wrong opponent at the wrong time". A week ago Luxembourg came off quite well against Colombia in a friendly, only losing 2-0, but they crumbled Friday under constant pressure. The result is a good omen for Germany, who played a similar farewell friendly in Mannheim two years ago before winning the European championship. On that occasion they beat the miniature principality Liechtenstein 9-1. The Germans will fly to their World Cup headquarters near Nice on the Mediterranean coast on Sunday and will open their campaign in Paris on June 15th against the United States.

© - AFP - 1998