Former Germany goalkeeper Uli Stein accused Podolski of being "lazy" and said he was not the only person of that opinion.

"I have asked every coach he has worked under and they have all confirmed that he is the laziest player they have ever worked with," Stein told the Bild newspaper.

"He does nothing; he doesn't train, which is why he is in such a condition."

However, Low has defended the 24-year-old, saying he knows a different Podolski to the one portrayed by Stein, and a different one to the player who has scored just two goals in the Bundesliga all term.

"Certainly Lukas has not had his best season this year and you can both see and feel that, but it would be absolutely wrong for somebody to call him a lazy player," he said in a press release from the Germany national-team sponsors Mercedes Benz.

"I experience him totally different to that here with the national team.

"From the very first day that he was here with us, he has trained with the highest motivation.

"I think his performances for the national team and his goals ratio say it all and I know him as highly motivated and enormously engaged and highly performing."