Löw continued to ring the changes, and Germany fans were able to celebrate another return as Marco Reus also made a comeback to the international stage after a long time away.
But the constant switching seemed to disrupt the Germany team, who had spent the week training hard in Eppan. So it proved, as Alessandro Schöpf fired home the winner 13 minutes from time, to give Austria their first win over Germany in nearly 32 years.
Die Mannschaft will conclude their warm-up for this summer’s tournament in Russia with a friendly against Saudi Arabia on Friday.
Germany suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Austria on Saturday night in Die Mannschaft’s first pre-World Cup friendly, and the last match before the final 23-man World Cup squad announcement on Monday.
Mesut Özil gave Joachim Löw’s side the lead early on with a curled finish, but two second half goals from Martin Hinteregger and Alessandro Schöpf turned the game in the hosts’ favour.
Kick off was delayed by nearly 100 minutes due to heavy rain, meaning national captain Manuel Neuer had to wait even longer to make his long-awaited return to the pitch.
A much-changed but strong eleven took to the field in Klagenfurt, which as well as a return for Neuer saw Nils Petersen make his debut for Germany up front.
The world champions started the better, and deservedly took the lead through Özil, as the Arsenal midfielder capitalized on a lapse at the back to bend home the opener.
Leverkusen’s Julian Brandt then had a chance to double the lead soon after, but couldn’t quite divert his volley on target from a tight angle.
At the other end, the back line was rarely troubled before the break, though Neuer had to be alert to pull off a smart save at his near post.
The game changed after half time however, as the home side pressed Die Mannschaft more and more. The pressure told just eight minutes into the half, when Martin Hinteregger volleyed home unmarked from a corner.
Löw continued to ring the changes, and Germany fans were able to celebrate another return as Marco Reus also made a comeback to the international stage after a long time away.
But the constant switching seemed to disrupt the Germany team, who had spent the week training hard in Eppan. So it proved, as Alessandro Schöpf fired home the winner 13 minutes from time, to give Austria their first win over Germany in nearly 32 years.
Die Mannschaft will conclude their warm-up for this summer’s tournament in Russia with a friendly against Saudi Arabia on Friday.
