Germany coach Joachim Loew gesticulated wildly, screamed from the sidelines and pulled his hair in frustration during the 1-0 win over Chile on Wednesday, after the side put on a display that suggested they were well short of World Cup sharpness.

Loew’s emotional outbursts are a rare sight but he had good reason to feel aggrieved.

The Germans, without an international title since 1996, have great expectations when they travel to Brazil in June, hoping to lift the trophy for the fourth time and become the first European team to do so in a World Cup on South American soil.

However, their display in Stuttgart was far from convincing.

“We have to really improve in the coming months,” Loew told reporters. “We just could not show any dominance and saw how tough Chile are. There is still a lot of work to be done.

“It is always very good to see that it is not just Germany that has good footballers,” added the coach, who two days earlier had challenged his players to prove they were ready to secure a place in his squad.

“It was a good lesson for us and it was good for our mentality,” defender Per Mertesacker said. “The Chileans showed us how to play good and productive football.”