The night¡¯s bill-topper took place at the BayArena in Leverkusen, where Jurgen Klinsmann¡¯s stormtroopers showed all their customary character by overturning a two-goal deficit in four second-half minutes to draw 2-2 with Japan.

Despite welcoming back Michael Ballack and Jens Nowotny, it all started horribly for the Mannschaft, who seemed unable to cope with the Asian champions¡¯ 3-5-2 formation and paid the price in the shape of a brace from Naohiro Takahara (57 and 65 minutes). But once again, Miroslav Klose offered Germany a lifeline, before Bastian Schweinsteiger spared their blushes ten minutes from time.

Coming three days after their all-too-easy 7-0 victory over Luxembourg, this result highlights a certain lack of composure in the German defence. As for Japan, Zico¡¯s men showed they can compete with the best, despite having failed to win any of their three preparatory matches played in May - a 2-1 defeat by Bulgaria and 0-0 draw with Scotland.

A Vratislav Lokvenc strike gave the Czech Republic a 1-0 victory in their second warm-up game against Costa Rica. This match marked the return to competition of Jan Koller after injury, while the playmaker Tomas Rosicky was rested because of a slight thigh strain. Yet to concede in their pre-tournament friendlies, the Czechs have now won two games out of two after their 2-0 success over fellow FIFA World Cup qualifiers Saudi Arabia.

Costa Rica, in contrast, having already suffered a 4-0 loss on Sunday against Ukraine, have now lost both their warm-up games and have failed to score a goal since arriving in Europe.

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