Sorg: No, they pressed very high up the pitch and closed down the areas. It was more surprising to see Spain struggle to find a solution against this. Italy managed to prevent Spain from finding their rhythm. Italy played a clever game and that's nothing that should surprise anyone.
DFB.de: How do you expect Italy to play tonight?
Sorg: Italian teams are always capable of making surprise tactical changes. But they still play with a clear game plan. They can be very mechanical. Once the signal ball is played, every player knows what his tasks are.
DFB.de: Italy have an excellent defence with Andrea Barzagli, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci. In that regard, how important will it be to avoid falling behind?
Sorg: Italy's defence is strong, but the same applies to our defence. There's a reason why we've kept four clean sheets this tournament. Naturally our game plan is to avoid conceding a goal. But even if we do fall behind, we still have enough quality in our attack to score goals against Italy.
DFB.de: What's the situation in the team? Is every player fit?
Sorg: Yes. A couple players had minor issues throughout the week, but since then everyone has recovered. As of now we have all our players on board and fully fit to play.
DFB.de: What are the last few hours prior to a game like for the team?
Just a few hours until Germany take on Italy in the EURO quarterfinal (kick-off: 21:00 CEST). We caught up with Marcus Sorg to discuss the current situation in the squad, any last-minute news and the atmosphere in the team.
DFB.de: Mr Sorg, several big nations have already been eliminated. Is the encounter between Germany and Italy like a pre-mature final?
Marcus Sorg: This tournament has delivered some surprises with teams such as Iceland and Wales performing really well. Anyone who still underestimates these teams can't be helped. Wales' comeback against Belgium last night was impressive. For us the following applies: In order to be crowned European champions, we still have to win three more games and we would do well to only think about the game at hand. There are still some nations left in this tournament who were considered pre-tournament favourites such as Italy and France. Tonight's winner will go into the semi-final, nothing more.
DFB.de: However, Germany and Italy have arguably been the most impressive so far?
Sorg: Italy are playing a good tournament and so are we. But I don't want to compare ourselves to others. We are strong and confident. But we also know that we are facing a strong opponent. We know about Italy's strengths and we know that they have a lot of quality.
DFB.de: Italy played great attacking football against Spain in the round of 16.
Sorg: They didn’t play attacking football.
DFB.de: They didn’t?
Sorg: No, they pressed very high up the pitch and closed down the areas. It was more surprising to see Spain struggle to find a solution against this. Italy managed to prevent Spain from finding their rhythm. Italy played a clever game and that's nothing that should surprise anyone.
DFB.de: How do you expect Italy to play tonight?
Sorg: Italian teams are always capable of making surprise tactical changes. But they still play with a clear game plan. They can be very mechanical. Once the signal ball is played, every player knows what his tasks are.
DFB.de: Italy have an excellent defence with Andrea Barzagli, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci. In that regard, how important will it be to avoid falling behind?
Sorg: Italy's defence is strong, but the same applies to our defence. There's a reason why we've kept four clean sheets this tournament. Naturally our game plan is to avoid conceding a goal. But even if we do fall behind, we still have enough quality in our attack to score goals against Italy.
DFB.de: What's the situation in the team? Is every player fit?
Sorg: Yes. A couple players had minor issues throughout the week, but since then everyone has recovered. As of now we have all our players on board and fully fit to play.
DFB.de: What are the last few hours prior to a game like for the team?
Sorg: Focussed and full of pleasant anticipation. It's a mixture as everyone deals with these things differently. For me it's always difficult to think about something else but the upcoming game. We have various meetings throughout the day and the match is a constant topic of discussion. Here in Bordeaux we have the luxury of staying quite close to the stadium. We can see the stadium from our hotel windows and the match is constantly on our minds.
