Jekyll, Hyde Germany hoping for fairytale finish
Sunday, 29 June 2008
TENERO, Switzerland, June 28(AFP): Germany coach Joachim Loew is hoping his Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde team fulfill their potential by beating Spain in Sunday's Euro 2008 final to complete the summer fairytale started in 2006.
Germany have shown two different faces at Euro 2008 - much like the character from Robert Louis Stevenson's famous 1886 novel.
At times they have produced some good football, only later to turn in bad performances.
Having suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Croatia in the group stage, they were impressive against Portugal in the 3-2 quarter-final win, but were then again hesitant before coming from behind to beat Turkey 3-2 in the semi-final.
Germany are bidding for a fourth European crown in Vienna and Loew hopes his side will show their fluent attacking side in Sunday's final, rather than a negative and defensive performance which would play into Spain's hands.
"If you look at the other teams, the Dutch also had a bad day in the knock-out stages (beaten 3-1 by Russia) and we are fully aware we haven't always played to the best of our abilities," said Loew.
"There is always room for improvement, but this team has shown they can bounce back from difficulty and have shown resilience.
"You have to give this German team credit, because even in the difficult stages of games, they always try to play some attacking football."
And Germany manager Oliver Bierhoff backed up Loew saying Germany must attack Spain, rather than sit back and risk potent attackers Xavi Hernandez, Daniel Guiza or David Silva testing the German defence.
"The Spanish put great store on being comfortable on the ball, all of their team can produce that defence-splitting passes.
"If you leave them alone and give them time and space on the ball, you are in trouble.
"We must close them down, work hard to limit their space and not stand back."
Win or lose, the German team will tour through Berlin's streets Monday to reward their loyal fans, but midfielder Torsten Frings is hoping it will be a victory parade to complete the fairytale started two years ago.
Germany have shown two different faces at Euro 2008 - much like the character from Robert Louis Stevenson's famous 1886 novel.
At times they have produced some good football, only later to turn in bad performances.
Having suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Croatia in the group stage, they were impressive against Portugal in the 3-2 quarter-final win, but were then again hesitant before coming from behind to beat Turkey 3-2 in the semi-final.
Germany are bidding for a fourth European crown in Vienna and Loew hopes his side will show their fluent attacking side in Sunday's final, rather than a negative and defensive performance which would play into Spain's hands.
"If you look at the other teams, the Dutch also had a bad day in the knock-out stages (beaten 3-1 by Russia) and we are fully aware we haven't always played to the best of our abilities," said Loew.
"There is always room for improvement, but this team has shown they can bounce back from difficulty and have shown resilience.
"You have to give this German team credit, because even in the difficult stages of games, they always try to play some attacking football."
And Germany manager Oliver Bierhoff backed up Loew saying Germany must attack Spain, rather than sit back and risk potent attackers Xavi Hernandez, Daniel Guiza or David Silva testing the German defence.
"The Spanish put great store on being comfortable on the ball, all of their team can produce that defence-splitting passes.
"If you leave them alone and give them time and space on the ball, you are in trouble.
"We must close them down, work hard to limit their space and not stand back."
Win or lose, the German team will tour through Berlin's streets Monday to reward their loyal fans, but midfielder Torsten Frings is hoping it will be a victory parade to complete the fairytale started two years ago.