Reus: "I'm strong enough"

Marco Reus looks likely to receive his 25th cap for Germany on Sunday against Georgia. The Dortmund attacker would have picked up a lot more hat it not been for injuries. Ahead of the European Championship qualifier, the 25-year-old spoke to DFB.de about the game and the rest of the campaign.

DFB.de: Mr Reus, the team doctor wouldn’t allow you to sleep on the plane in order to make acclimatising to Georgia a bit easier...

Marco Reus: That’s true and it wasn’t much fun as it was a short night! However, I’m happy that we arrived there two days before the game as it gives us some time to adapt to the situation. It’s not the first time that we’ve changed time zones to play football, so we’re sort of used to it.

DFB.de: You scored your eighth international goal against Australia. Considering how last year played out, are you happy to have started the year strongly?

Reus: Obviously it’s not nice to be out injured but that is football I guess. I was out for a couple of months and wasn’t involved in the World Cup. However, these things happen. I’m mentally strong enough to cope with what happened and have moved on.

DFB.de: The goal will have helped...

Reus: True. Since my injury I’ve regained my rhythm and I wanted to show that when I played for the national team. I’ve not featured frequently for them due to my injuries so obviously the goal was nice.

DFB.de: In the 23rd minute you were relatively open in the box but couldn’t convert.

Reus: I should have scored. When I received the ball I saw Mario Götze running towards goal and I was court in two minds and the defender recovered, which was annoying. Hopefully it won’t happen like that again in the future.

DFB.de: On Sunday you face Georgia. What do you know about them?

Reus: We’ve watched a video put together by the scouts. They’re a different side to Australia. Australia attacked us quite a lot but it seems that Georgia will play with a back five, meaning they will have four midfielders and just one striker.

DFB.de: What do you do against such a system?

Reus: We need to play a high line and win the ball as quickly as possible. We need to try and alienate their players and attack the spaces quickly. It will be important to be good in possession.

DFB.de: Do you understand the new qualification criteria? Where can you finish to qualify for the tournament?

Reus: Not entirely.

DFB.de: Is that because you believe that Germany will finish top?

Reus: That’s our aim. However, since we’ve won the World Cup our opponents are more motivated. They want to beat the champions. This means we need to be more wary and work hard. We know our current situation and that we can’t afford any slip-ups, however, we also know what we’re capable of, so I have no doubts.