Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann was relieved to see his "brilliant" side escape with a 4-3 win over Australia on Wednesday after an error-strewn Group A debut in the Confederations Cup.
"It's so important to start the competition with a win," Klinsmann said after the opening night thriller at the Waldstadion in Frankfurt.
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"We have young defenders and young players sometimes make mistakes. That's normal.
"I've told my players they were brilliant because we have those three points. That will give them confidence. Let's see what happens next."
The Confederations Cup is Germany's only competitive action before they host the 2006 World Cup and Klinsmann will make changes for the next game against Tunisia to take advantage.
"There will be one or more changes in positions, including in defence," Klinsmann said. "We want to give experience to other players."
Germany twice led in the first half with goals from Kevin Kuranyi and Per Mertesacker but poor defending allowed Australia to equalise with a Josip Skoko free kick and a smart John Aloisi strike.
Michael Ballack scored a penalty and set up Lukas Podolski to make it 4-2 before Aloisi grabbed his second of the night in injury time.
Ballack had been unusually quiet in the first half but his improvement after the break was enough to give him the man-of-the-match award.
"Michael was very good in critical moments," said Klinsmann. "We know he can play better but he was very good."
Australia coach Frank Farina accepted that defensive mistakes had cost his side any chance of victory.
"I thought we played very good football...at times," Farina said. "But you can't expect to concede four goals and win."
Australia go on to face Argentina and Tunisia and Farina believes they will have to win both games to progress to the semi-finals as one of the top two.
"There is still hope," he said. "If we win the next two games it's guaranteed. I don't think four points will be enough."
