On the eve of Germany's World Cup quarter-final against France in Rio de Janeiro on Friday (6 PM CET, live on ARD) coach Joachim Löw supervised 22 players in the final pre-match training session at the Maracana. The only man missing was injured defender Shkodran Mustafi.
Mats Hummels, ruled out of the 2–1 extra time victory over Algeria in the Round of 16 with flu, is "available for selection," Löw commented. DFB.de attended the head coach’s pre-match press conference.
JOACHIM LÖW ON...
...the players carrying injuries: Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira are fully fit. A third of the players complained of sore throats yesterday, but no one has a temperature and they were all able to train. I hope no-one else gets sick overnight. Mats Hummels has shaken off the flu and isn't feeling tired any more, so he’s available for selection tomorrow.
...Manuel Neuer’s display against Algeria: If a team gets at you early and you play a high defensive line, like in the match against Algeria, it’s essential your keeper doesn't just stay on his line. That's what makes Neuer such a class act. He has a great feel for long through balls. You can see he's a good player in training and lacks nothing in terms of technique. He has excellent positional sense. It's what makes him so valuable and it's why we want him to take risks.
...his team's performances at the World Cup: Our performances during the tournament haven't been entirely consistent. But we've also been playing teams with nothing to lose, and that’s never easy. But you still have to win your matches. We've yet to produce a peak performance, but we battled well against Algeria. No team has played its best football yet. The matches are tight, and it's completely wrong to think you can beat the best teams in the world simply by turning up. It's not always possible to produce your best football. You’ll always make mistakes. But we're through to the last eight - and tomorrow we'll go through to the last four.
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On the eve of Germany's World Cup quarter-final against France in Rio de Janeiro on Friday (6 PM CET, live on ARD) coach Joachim Löw supervised 22 players in the final pre-match training session at the Maracana. The only man missing was injured defender Shkodran Mustafi.
Mats Hummels, ruled out of the 2–1 extra time victory over Algeria in the Round of 16 with flu, is "available for selection," Löw commented. DFB.de attended the head coach’s pre-match press conference.
JOACHIM LÖW ON...
...the players carrying injuries: Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira are fully fit. A third of the players complained of sore throats yesterday, but no one has a temperature and they were all able to train. I hope no-one else gets sick overnight. Mats Hummels has shaken off the flu and isn't feeling tired any more, so he’s available for selection tomorrow.
...Manuel Neuer’s display against Algeria: If a team gets at you early and you play a high defensive line, like in the match against Algeria, it’s essential your keeper doesn't just stay on his line. That's what makes Neuer such a class act. He has a great feel for long through balls. You can see he's a good player in training and lacks nothing in terms of technique. He has excellent positional sense. It's what makes him so valuable and it's why we want him to take risks.
...his team's performances at the World Cup: Our performances during the tournament haven't been entirely consistent. But we've also been playing teams with nothing to lose, and that’s never easy. But you still have to win your matches. We've yet to produce a peak performance, but we battled well against Algeria. No team has played its best football yet. The matches are tight, and it's completely wrong to think you can beat the best teams in the world simply by turning up. It's not always possible to produce your best football. You’ll always make mistakes. But we're through to the last eight - and tomorrow we'll go through to the last four.
