Schürrle: "Only focused on our next game"

André Schürrle has made three appearances from the bench this tournament, with Germany coach Joachim Löw relying on the Wolfsburg attacker to bring fresh impulses onto the pitch in the later stages of games. DFB.de editor Steffen Lüdeke spoke with Schürrle about his role in the team and his experiences from the group stages.

DFB.de: Mr. Schürrle, on Sunday you will face Slovakia in the round of 16. How high are your hopes of playing a central role in that game?

André Schürrle: Reaching the next round as a team stands above everything else. We want to prove ourselves and show everyone else that we have arrived at this tournament and that we are strong enough to reach the next round. Every single one of us needs to put in maximum effort in order for that to happen; whether we’re playing ten, twenty, eighty, or ninety minutes - we need to give 100 percent when we’re on the pitch.

DFB.de: So far at the tournament your participation time has increased by twelve minutes in each game. Against the Ukraine you played twelve minutes, against Poland 24 minutes and against Northern Ireland you featured for 36 minutes. Based on this logic you should be getting 48 minutes against Slovakia. Are you satisfied with amount of time you've been on the pitch so far?

Schürrle: We all want to play - as much as possible and preferably in the starting line-up. But like I said: It's important that all players realise that this is about the whole team. One key to success at tournaments is that players put their ego aside a bit. There can only be eleven players on the pitch and you can’t win the European Championship if the other twelve are completely unsatisfied and carry that attitude with them. But I can speak for the whole team in this regard: Everyone knows what's at stake here and is acting accordingly. The level of our training sessions is really high when those players are in action who haven't featured a lot this tournament. There is not a single player who isn't motivated.

DFB.de: Are you aware of your statistics while playing for Germany?

Schürrle: Not in great detail, but I know that I've scored 20 goals for Germany.

DFB.de: And you've provided six assists. On average you are therefore involved in a goal every 87 minutes.

Schürrle: I didn’t know that and it doesn't sound too bad at all. I feel extremely comfortable when I'm with the national team, both on and off the pitch. I always enjoy my time here and apparently it shows in my performances.

DFB.de: The group stage is over. How much football have you watched in the past few days?

Schürrle: A lot. You can't really get around it either, since there are TVs all over our base camp. (laughs) I didn't see all the games, but definitely a good share of them.

DFB.de: Let's go through the different talking points from the group stage. What has been the biggest surprise for you?

Schürrle: There were a few surprises. Wales winning their group wasn't exactly to be expected. Hungary and Iceland also impressed me.

DFB.de: What has been the biggest disappointment?

Schürrle: Portugal struggled, as they didn't get off to a great start in the tournament. I expected Sweden to be stronger, but all big favourites are still in, so there wasn't really a huge surprise in that regard.

DFB.de: What was your favourite goal so far?

Schürrle: It was scored right in the first game between France and Romania. Payet struck a great shot into the top corner.

DFB.de: Better than Cristiano Ronaldo's back-heel goal?

Schürrle: Oh yeah, that happened as well. Obviously that was also a fantastic goal.

DFB.de: The best player at the tournament so far?

Schürrle: Toni Kroos.

DFB.de: Because?

Schürrle: The assurance and precision he has in his game are simply outstanding. You can pass him the ball every time and he will find a solution. He has a sense when to speed up our game and when to calm things down a bit. He is simply an unbelievably intelligent player and those don't come around very often.

DFB.de: Who's been the best defender so far?

Schürrle: I don't have an opinion on that.

DFB.de: Jerome Boateng?

Schürrle: Obviously, yes.

DFB.de: What is it like to play against Jerome Boateng as a striker? Certainly something you experience quite often in training.

Schürrle: It's just very tough against him. He always positions himself correctly, he is very robust and extremely quick on his feet. That just makes it very difficult for us strikers to get past him. Together with Mats [Hummels], we have an outstanding central defence. I'm glad that I only have to play against them at training.

DFB.de: There haven't been many goals scored at this tournament so far. Do you think that will change in the knockout stages?

Schürrle: Yes, although I don't expect this tournament to produce a large amount of goals. The past tournaments have shown that results in the group stages were always quite close.

DFB.de: Are you only looking from game to game, or do you know which nation you might face after the round of 16?

Schürrle: I obviously know the tournament schedule, but it's not important right now. Because if we lose against Slovakia it becomes completely irrelevant against whom we might play next. Therefore we are only focused on our next game, which will be on Sunday in Lille.