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Germany edge Hungary 2-0 in friendly

Xinhua, June 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

Germany cruised to a 2-0 win over Hungary thanks to the own goal by Adam Lang and Thomas Mueller's second-half goal at Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday.

Reigning FIFA World champions Germany reaped a victory in the last friendly ahead the UEFA 2016 European Championship in France, as a goal in each half was enough for Joachim Loew's men.

The "Nationalmannschaft" caught a bright start as midfielder Julian Draxler overcame Hungary's veteran goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly from close range. However, the referee disallowed the opener due to Draxler's offside position. Germany kept it bowling and worked out more opportunities but Thomas Mueller as well as Antonio Ruediger pulled wide from promising positions.

As the match progressed, Hungary were able to threaten Germany's defence as striker Balaszs Dzsudzak tested goalkeeper Manuel Neuer with an low effort from the edge of the box. Nevertheless, it were the hosts who opened the scoring in the first half as Adam Lang cleared Jonas Hector's square pass into the own goal seven minutes from half time.

After the restart, Germany started where they left off meanwhile Hungary failed to pose any threat. As a consequence, Loew's men doubled the lead after custodian Kiraly parried Mario Gomez' header into the path of Mueller, who tapped home his 32 goal in his 71st international cap for Germany.

The 2-0 lead took the wind out of Hungary's sails, as they were unable to keep the Germans on the distance.

"I think we staged a good performance against Germany. We didn't have the quality to play offensively against them," Hungary coach Bernd Storck said.

"It was important for us a complete the last game ahead of a tournament with a clean sheet and a victory. The win will boost our confidence for the EURO," Germany coach Joachim Loew said.

Germany face Ukraine for their European Championship Group C opener on June 12 before Hungary meet Austria in Group F two days later. Endit