Franz Beckenbauer believes Germany have no chance of beating Portugal in their Euro 2008 quarter-final if they produce a repeat of the performance against Austria.
Joachim Low's side laboured to a 1-0 victory over the co-hosts to set up a last-eight clash against the Portuguese in Basle on Thursday.
Michael Ballack scored a fine winner shortly after half-time as the Germans condemned Austria to an early exit, but their display was far from convincing.
Writing in his column in the Bild newspaper, former World Cup winner Beckenbauer said: 'Do we have a chance against Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portuguese with such a performance? No, not at all.
'On Thursday our XI have to clearly improve in order to make it into the semi-finals. The German midfield was quite devoid of ideas; there were scarcely any combinations.
'The Austrians have gone out of the Euros in a respectable way, but did not stretch Germany to the limits.
'If they had played a bit more precisely in the first half, it would have been closer.'
Beckenbauer also criticised referee Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez for sending both Low and Austria coach Josef Hickersberger to the stands in the first half for arguing among themselves and with the fourth official.
He added: 'The action of the referee was not only unnecessary, it was also outrageous. Both coaches were only trying to do their job according to the rules.
'They have done nothing which is forbidden. With this action, the referee almost managed to let the game get out of hand.
'I hope that Jogi Low will be on the bench on Thursday and can finish his work.'
