Postponed, the big celebrations have been put off. The World champions intended to secure qualification for the European Championship in 2016 against Ireland, but it did not go to plan, as they ended up losing 1-0. Fans in Leipzig will be pleased though, as they will have the opportunity to celebrate against Georgia on Sunday.
Mats Hummels speaks to DFB, and discusses the loss against Ireland, and the upcoming match against Ireland.
Question: Mr. Hummels, what was the atmosphere in the dressing room? How disappointed were the boys after losing 1-0?
Mats Hummels: You can’t imagine. We didn’t really turn up, and are very frustrated by the result - particularly because we have yet to secure qualification. There was no music in the changing room, the atmosphere was subdued, and no one was laughing. Everyone was somewhat emerged in their own thoughts.
Question: Why weren’t able to get into your stride against Ireland as a team?
Mats Hummels: I don’t think we played that bad really. It is very frustrating that we weren’t able to use our chances to get a goal. And the fact that Ireland did use one of their chances was certainly not in the plan.
Question: How did you concede the goal?
Mats Hummels: We pushed out well, which was something we had set out to do from the beginning. We reacted half a second late to the long ball though – I’m guilty as well. It’s particularly annoying because we had the game under control at that point.
Question: You were involved in a situation in the first half which looked like it could have been a penalty.
Mats Hummels: To be honest it felt like a penalty. In my opinion, it was fairly stonewall. I would have had a huge chance to score but I was pulled back very firmly. But we can’t use this as an excuse for our defeat.
Question: How did you find the atmosphere in the stadium? How special were the Irish fans?
Mats Hummels: It was quite special after the full-time whistle. Prior to that it was actually quite quiet, and I think we did well to keep them subdued through our style of play. There wasn’t much time for the Irish to genuinely think they were going to win – only right at the end.
Question: You now face Georgia and can secure qualification. Will this influence the match?
Mats Hummels: We are all highly motivated, to show that we are there to win from early on. We have to dominate proceedings, and make sure we score our goals – then we will have no problems.
Question: So there’s no need to worry then?
Mats Hummels: What do you mean worry? We can’t presume that it’s a foregone conclusion. That would be completely the wrong mentality. But we are not naive enough to make this mistake. We have shown many times before that we can play concentrated and highly motivated football. When it gets tough, we prove ourselves.
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Postponed, the big celebrations have been put off. The World champions intended to secure qualification for the European Championship in 2016 against Ireland, but it did not go to plan, as they ended up losing 1-0. Fans in Leipzig will be pleased though, as they will have the opportunity to celebrate against Georgia on Sunday.
Mats Hummels speaks to DFB, and discusses the loss against Ireland, and the upcoming match against Ireland.
Question: Mr. Hummels, what was the atmosphere in the dressing room? How disappointed were the boys after losing 1-0?
Mats Hummels: You can’t imagine. We didn’t really turn up, and are very frustrated by the result - particularly because we have yet to secure qualification. There was no music in the changing room, the atmosphere was subdued, and no one was laughing. Everyone was somewhat emerged in their own thoughts.
Question: Why weren’t able to get into your stride against Ireland as a team?
Mats Hummels: I don’t think we played that bad really. It is very frustrating that we weren’t able to use our chances to get a goal. And the fact that Ireland did use one of their chances was certainly not in the plan.
Question: How did you concede the goal?
Mats Hummels: We pushed out well, which was something we had set out to do from the beginning. We reacted half a second late to the long ball though – I’m guilty as well. It’s particularly annoying because we had the game under control at that point.
Question: You were involved in a situation in the first half which looked like it could have been a penalty.
Mats Hummels: To be honest it felt like a penalty. In my opinion, it was fairly stonewall. I would have had a huge chance to score but I was pulled back very firmly. But we can’t use this as an excuse for our defeat.
Question: How did you find the atmosphere in the stadium? How special were the Irish fans?
Mats Hummels: It was quite special after the full-time whistle. Prior to that it was actually quite quiet, and I think we did well to keep them subdued through our style of play. There wasn’t much time for the Irish to genuinely think they were going to win – only right at the end.
Question: You now face Georgia and can secure qualification. Will this influence the match?
Mats Hummels: We are all highly motivated, to show that we are there to win from early on. We have to dominate proceedings, and make sure we score our goals – then we will have no problems.
Question: So there’s no need to worry then?
Mats Hummels: What do you mean worry? We can’t presume that it’s a foregone conclusion. That would be completely the wrong mentality. But we are not naive enough to make this mistake. We have shown many times before that we can play concentrated and highly motivated football. When it gets tough, we prove ourselves.
