Lille - Germany stars Manuel Neuer and Toni
Kroos warned the world champions will only
improve after seeing off Ukraine 2-0 in Lille to
make the perfect start to their Euro 2016
campaign.
Kroos was named man of the match and
goalkeeper Neuer made several key saves as
Ukraine threatened to expose a makeshift
German defence weakened by injuries to Mats
Hummels and Antonio Ruediger before half-
time.
However, Shkodran Mustafi's early header and
a first international goal in five years by
Bastian Schweinsteiger, deep into stoppage
time, gave Joachim Loew's men a perfect start
in their bid to match their success in Brazil two
years ago.
"We played well and kept up our good
standards in defence," said Bayern Munich's
Neuer. "We haven't shown yet everything that
we have to show, we will keep improving."
Kroos's brilliant cross set up the opener, but he
admitted Ukraine were unlucky not to have at
least levelled before the break as Neuer's
heroics and a spectacular goalline clearance
from Jerome Boateng kept them at bay.
"It is always good for the confidence to win
2-0 and keep and clean sheet," said Kroos, who
shone fresh from winning the Champions
League with Real Madrid.
"The last 15 minutes before half-time we didn't
concentrate well, so we couldn't complain if
we had conceded.
"In the second half we were much stronger, we
dominated the game and didn't concede any
chances.
"We've learned a lot, we're not at the level we
want to achieve during this tournament yet, but
it is a good start."
POLE POSITION
It was a special night for Schweinsteiger, who
had only played 23 minutes since tearing a
knee ligament in March, but battled back to
fitness just in time to make the squad.
And he made a huge impact in just three
minutes on the field as he sprinted forward to
slam home Mesut Ozil's low cross in the 93rd
minute.
"I ran so hard in the celebrations that I'm a bit
out of breath still," said the Manchester United
midfielder.
"It was amazing for that to happen, it's the
kind of thing you can only wish for, but the
most important thing is the team wins."
Neuer was captain for the night in
Schweinsteiger's absence, but he is hoping his
former Bayern team-mate will be fit to play a
bigger role in the rest of the tournament.
"Basti was class when he came on and made
the goal," said Neuer. "I hope he can play from
the start soon."
Loew will be charged with the decision as to
whether Schweinsteiger can oust Sami Khedira
for a place alongside Kroos in midfield.
And the German coach insisted the goal was
just reward for Schweinsteiger's sacrifice in
battling back to fitness.
"I am very happy for Bastian that after all this
work he has done throughout the last weeks
and months he could score the second
decisive goal," added Loew.
Next up for Germany is a clash with age-old
rivals Poland.
Loew expects the meeting in Paris to decide
who wins Group C after the Poles saw off
Northern Ireland 1-0 earlier on Sunday, and is
especially wary of Bayern's prolific striker
Robert Lewandowski.
"Poland are a very strong team. We played
twice against them in qualification, we lost
away, but won at home.
"They have quite strong strikers with
Lewandowski, who we know well and who
scores a lot of goals."
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