Germany's 2-1 defeat by Croatia was a chastening experience but coach Joachim Loew said he was confident his team could correct their mistakes in time for a decisive Euro 2008 Group B finale against Austria.

"In the last two or three years the team has always bounced back from setbacks," Loew told reporters after Germany slipped to second place in the group with defeat in Klagenfurt.

"We've proved we have character and the ability to bounce back.

"Now we've got to show that we're a team that can make things happen in such an important match as the next one."

Germany were excellent in beating Poland 2-0 in their first game but their form deserted them on Thursday against a sharper, more committed Croatia team.

They slipped a goal behind when Marcell Jansen allowed Darijo Srna in ahead of him to score in the 24th minute and worse followed when Ivica Olic made it 2-0 in the 62nd.

Lukas Podolski struck his third goal of the tournament to give Germany hope but they were simply out of ideas in attack and the night ended on a sour note when Bastian Schweinsteiger was red carded for shoving Jerko Leko.

"A lot went wrong in our last match," said Loew. "But we've got to talk about that and analyse everything."

Germany need at least a draw in the final group game in Vienna on Monday and the players know an improvement will be needed if they are to avoid humiliation against the co-hosts.

"It will be a different game against Austria but it will still be tricky," Ballack told reporters. "We need to go back to the level we started with against Poland.

"Maybe we celebrated a bit too much after that game. We knew the Croats were a stronger team but we just weren't confident with the ball. We couldn't get forward."

Podolski, the only one of the German forwards to show any form on Thursday, said it was up to the players to show they could deal with a pressure situation in Vienna.

"If we can't cope with it we might as well go home right now," he said. "We need to show another face in four days' time."