World Cup 2010 qualifiers: Group Four

Oct 12 2008 David Evans Reports

WALES boss John Toshack warned his troops they will need to improve against Germany after watching them limp past Liechtenstein.

The Welsh warmed up for their trip to Berlin by beating the group minnows 2-0 thanks to goals from David Edwards and Ched Evans.

But they were far from convincing and Toshack knows the Germans will beat his side easily if they don't step up a couple of gears on Wednesday.

He said: "We need to be better in Germany. We are aware of that.

"This game was as difficult as I expected.

But we had chances and fully deserved to win. We were the better side and should have won by a couple more.

"However, Germany away is a completely different type of game.

"We need to get something from a couple of away matches if we are to be competitive in this group."

Wales struggled to break down Liechtenstein but finally opened the scoring two minutes before the break.

Simon Davies cut the ball back and Wolves midfielder Edwards rattled home his first international goal.

Toshack's side were handed the chance to go further ahead a minute later when Gareth Bale was upended by Martin Buchel.

But Craig Bellamy's spot-kick was saved by Peter Jehle - the third penalty Wales have missed in as many games.

And the West Ham striker said: "If we get one against the Germans I don't know who will take it.

"I've always played in sides with better penalty takers than me. Jason Koumas was fancying a go in this game so I'm sure he'll want to step up in Berlin."

Bellamy almost made up for that miss in 71 minutes but his six-yard shot was saved by the outstanding Jehle.

However, sub Evans made the game safe nine minutes later when his header rebounded off Liechtenstein captain Mario Frick's legs and in to the net.

Germany head into Wednesday's game with their tails up after a 2-1 home win over Russia last night.

Joachim Loew's men claimed top spot in the group after taking control of the game thanks to early strikes from Lukas Podolski and Michael Ballack.

Bayern Munich star Podolski opened the scoring in nine minutes when he collected a pass from Miroslav Klose, shook off Vasily Berezutskiy and drove his shot past Igor Akinfeev.

Russia tried to bounce back but they suffered another hammer blow in 28 minutes when Germany hit the second.

Bastian Schweinsteiger sent a great cross to the back post and Ballack was on hand to send the ball past Akinfeev.

Guus Hiddink's side were given hope six minutes after the break when they pulled one back. A mistake from Philipp Lahm let Alexander Anyukov in down the right and his cross was tapped home by star player Andrei Arshavin.

The Russians then almost snatched a point in a frantic ending to the game.

Dmitry Sychev hit a post while German keeper Rene Adler had to make excellent saves to deny Arshavin and Pavel Pogrebnyak.

Relieved German skipper Ballack said: "We struggled in the second half and if Russia had equalised they would have deserved it."

The defeat saw the Russians slump to fourth in the table behind Wales and Finland.

The Finns won 1-0 at home against Azerbaijan thanks to a Mikael Forssell penalty.

The former Birmingham striker made no mistake from the spot in 62 minutes after stopper Sami Hyypia was brought down in the box.