First win in the second match of 2016. Germany scored four against four-time World Champions – Italy just one. Toni Kroos, Mario Götze, Jonas Hector and Mesut Özil all got on the scoresheet for the reigning World Champions, whilst Stephan El Shaarawy scored an Italian consolation. It ended 4-1 to Germany at the Allianz Arena in Munich. The aim of the game was momentum for the EUROs, and momentum is what they got. And it’s more than just a light tailwind. The fans were happy, the coach was pleased and the team content. Thomas Müller was also pleased. In an interview with DFB.de, Bayern München’s attacking all-rounder spoke about his first taste of captaining his country.
Question: Mr Müller, you led the team out onto the pitch as captain. Congratulations on your successful captaining debut!
Thomas Müller: Thank you.
Question: How did it feel to wear the armband from the start?
Müller: Good, but not much different from normal. But of course it was nice for me, especially here at home. And then we won on top of that, which was the most important part of the day. But still, I didn’t do much different in terms of dealing with the other guys.
Question: It appeared that you were speaking and gesticulating more to your teammates.
Müller: No, I don’t think so. If you look back at other games, for example against England, I was waving my hands around just as much. I always try to interact with my teammates, so that’s nothing new.
Question: The team played like they were trying to atone for the 3-2 loss to England. Was this desire also noticeable in the team?
Müller: We also don’t like it when we don’t win, so we wanted to give a good performance today. Of course when we were 2-0 up our minds went back to what happened on Saturday. But this time we wanted to win after going two ahead. It’s nice that the team was rewarded for its efforts. Now we can head into our preparations for the EUROs without too much pressure from outside and work on what we need for the tournament.
Question: The attitude was right today – can you summarise simply that?
Müller: We wanted to win – you could see that we were eager. We haven’t seen each other since November, so it’s not surprising that some things didn’t work to their best. But it was a fair 4-1 win over Italy, who we have barely beaten in the last 40 years.
Question: You enthusiastically gave Mario Götze a few slaps on the cheek after his goal. You could explain to us what this goal celebration meant?
Müller: He was lying there, so I just went for him (laughs).
Question: That goal was a real relief for Götze...?
Müller: Of course, it was a real load off his shoulders. There has been a lot written about him in recent weeks, so when he scored, I can imagine that he had a few emotions to release.
created by mmc/clm
First win in the second match of 2016. Germany scored four against four-time World Champions – Italy just one. Toni Kroos, Mario Götze, Jonas Hector and Mesut Özil all got on the scoresheet for the reigning World Champions, whilst Stephan El Shaarawy scored an Italian consolation. It ended 4-1 to Germany at the Allianz Arena in Munich. The aim of the game was momentum for the EUROs, and momentum is what they got. And it’s more than just a light tailwind. The fans were happy, the coach was pleased and the team content. Thomas Müller was also pleased. In an interview with DFB.de, Bayern München’s attacking all-rounder spoke about his first taste of captaining his country.
Question: Mr Müller, you led the team out onto the pitch as captain. Congratulations on your successful captaining debut!
Thomas Müller: Thank you.
Question: How did it feel to wear the armband from the start?
Müller: Good, but not much different from normal. But of course it was nice for me, especially here at home. And then we won on top of that, which was the most important part of the day. But still, I didn’t do much different in terms of dealing with the other guys.
Question: It appeared that you were speaking and gesticulating more to your teammates.
Müller: No, I don’t think so. If you look back at other games, for example against England, I was waving my hands around just as much. I always try to interact with my teammates, so that’s nothing new.
Question: The team played like they were trying to atone for the 3-2 loss to England. Was this desire also noticeable in the team?
Müller: We also don’t like it when we don’t win, so we wanted to give a good performance today. Of course when we were 2-0 up our minds went back to what happened on Saturday. But this time we wanted to win after going two ahead. It’s nice that the team was rewarded for its efforts. Now we can head into our preparations for the EUROs without too much pressure from outside and work on what we need for the tournament.
Question: The attitude was right today – can you summarise simply that?
Müller: We wanted to win – you could see that we were eager. We haven’t seen each other since November, so it’s not surprising that some things didn’t work to their best. But it was a fair 4-1 win over Italy, who we have barely beaten in the last 40 years.
Question: You enthusiastically gave Mario Götze a few slaps on the cheek after his goal. You could explain to us what this goal celebration meant?
Müller: He was lying there, so I just went for him (laughs).
Question: That goal was a real relief for Götze...?
Müller: Of course, it was a real load off his shoulders. There has been a lot written about him in recent weeks, so when he scored, I can imagine that he had a few emotions to release.
