The Germany coach had to decide whether to play captain Philipp Lahm in his defensive midfield position, as he’d done in the opening four games of the World Cup.

Or, switch the Bayern star to his usual right-back position in their World Cup quarter-final against France at the Maracana Stadium on Friday.

Loew chose the latter. Mats Hummels’ 13th-minute header was enough for the Germans who won 1-0 and set up a semi-final against Brazil.

Lahm’s presence galvanized a German defence which had looked to be less than resolute against Algeria in their 2-1 win in the round-of-16.

And he wasn’t concerned where he played as long as the team was winning.

“We’re in the semi-finals so who cares about anything else,” he said.

“It wasn’t easy today, especially not in the sun, but we worked well as a team and the team comes first.

JOACHIM Loew had to make a decision.

“We should maybe have made it 2-0. We wasted a great counter-attack, so that meant it remained tight to the end, but it was a good performance for us and we’re in the semis.”

Loew said he was proud of his side to adapt to different strategies.

“The team wasn’t surprised by the changes,” Loew said. “They know I’ve got a variety of different lineup plans. I always said when I have the feeling that I need to set a new stimulus, I’ll do it and the players know that.”

He credited the team’s adaptability to their consistency.

Loew has five survivors in his squad from the 2006 World Cup in Germany and ten of the side who finished third at South Africa 2010. They lost in the semi-finals on both occasions.

“The team has changed over last few years and there are not many survivors from 2006 and 2010, but it’s good to have a few changes, not just the same players who have been at the top level for the last eight to ten years,” said Loew.

“We have been working on consistency, invested a lot and we have excellent players.”

With that consistency and tactical flexibility, Germany have hope this time around they can finally get their hands on the trophy.

“It was tough,” said Hummels. “We had to fight against France, we know they are one of the top teams. It was not a walk in the park and we did well. I think we deserve to carry on.”

Published in Dawn, July 6th , 2014