Germany and their coach Jürgen Klinsmann were left shattered on Tuesday after two Italian goals in extra-time handed the hosts a 2-0 loss here in the World Cup semi-final.
Klinsmann's side bowed to last-gasp goals from Fabio Grosso and
substitute Alessandro Del Piero in Dortmund, where the german team had not lost since 1935 and he conceded that he felt bitter
disappointment.
"It is an enormous disappointment and the mood is very low. It
is a bitter pill to concede two goals so near the end," said the
41-year-old, who won the World Cup as a player with West Germany in 1990.
"I tried to say to them (the players) that they have played
fantastically, everyone has pushed themselves to their limits. They can take so much from this tournament and they have made
the country proud," Klinsmann insisted, saying he intended to lift the squad for the third-place playoff which will be against either France or Portugal.
"All of Germany is proud of what this team has achieved. It's
hard now to look forward to the third place playoff, but the coach will gee the lads up," said Manager Oliver Bierhoff, who scored both goals in the 2-1 Euro 96 victory over the Czech Republic.
Striker Miroslav Klose said Germany had only just come up short.
"I think it was a very close match. Both sides had chances to
win it in normal time. My compliments to the Italians - they hit us on the break and scored two very good goals."
Defender Philipp Lahm said the result was a bitter pill to
swallow. "It's hard to lose like that at the end of extra-time. We were up against a good side and things were finely balanced. We are very disappointed but we gave our all," Klose said.
Christoph Metzelder, losing on his home Borussia Dortmund
ground, expressed similar sentiments. "It's really a choker to lose so close to the end of the match. We did everything one could ask of us but Italy caught us at the death," said Metzelder, who like Klose was at the wrong end of the
2-0 defeat by Brazil in the 2002 World Cup final.
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Germany and their coach Jürgen Klinsmann were left shattered on Tuesday after two Italian goals in extra-time handed the hosts a 2-0 loss here in the World Cup semi-final.
Klinsmann's side bowed to last-gasp goals from Fabio Grosso and
substitute Alessandro Del Piero in Dortmund, where the german team had not lost since 1935 and he conceded that he felt bitter
disappointment.
"It is an enormous disappointment and the mood is very low. It
is a bitter pill to concede two goals so near the end," said the
41-year-old, who won the World Cup as a player with West Germany in 1990.
"I tried to say to them (the players) that they have played
fantastically, everyone has pushed themselves to their limits. They can take so much from this tournament and they have made
the country proud," Klinsmann insisted, saying he intended to lift the squad for the third-place playoff which will be against either France or Portugal.
"All of Germany is proud of what this team has achieved. It's
hard now to look forward to the third place playoff, but the coach will gee the lads up," said Manager Oliver Bierhoff, who scored both goals in the 2-1 Euro 96 victory over the Czech Republic.
Striker Miroslav Klose said Germany had only just come up short.
"I think it was a very close match. Both sides had chances to
win it in normal time. My compliments to the Italians - they hit us on the break and scored two very good goals."
Defender Philipp Lahm said the result was a bitter pill to
swallow. "It's hard to lose like that at the end of extra-time. We were up against a good side and things were finely balanced. We are very disappointed but we gave our all," Klose said.
Christoph Metzelder, losing on his home Borussia Dortmund
ground, expressed similar sentiments. "It's really a choker to lose so close to the end of the match. We did everything one could ask of us but Italy caught us at the death," said Metzelder, who like Klose was at the wrong end of the
2-0 defeat by Brazil in the 2002 World Cup final.
