It was only confirmed that the Germany U20s would go through into the quarter-final of the World Cup in South Korea two days after they defeated Vanuatu 3-2 in the final group stage game. Honduras’ 1-0 win over Vietnam in Group E on Sunday night evening meant that Guido Streichsbier’s U20 outfit finished as one of the best third-placed teams, and would stay in the competition for now. The 47-year-old discusses Wednesday’s game against Zambia (13:00 CEST), the expectations he has of his boys, and his first experience with a video assistant referee.
DFB.de: Mr. Streichsbier, how happy were you upon finding out that your team qualified to the World Cup quarter-final?
Guido Streichsbier: We were pleased to make it through to the next round after a group stage which we took some time to get going in. However, the players and coaches have been disappointed with the performances we’ve displayed so far. We know we need to raise our game.
DFB.de: Now African champions and winners of Group C Zambia await you.
Streichsbier: It’ll definitely be tougher than it was in the group. We’ve collected information on Zambia and we’ll go over that in the next few days. Zambia are a physically strong team with good chemistry, evidenced by their different rituals before and after the game. The World Cup here in South Korea is a big stage upon which Zambia can showcase their football to the world.
DFB.de: What rituals are you aware of?
Streichsbier: The players sing a gospel song as they’re running on or on their way to the bus, and after games they get on their knees and pray. Rituals like that give a team great spirit.
DFB.de: What things would you place particular emphasis on as you prepare for the quarter-final?
It was only confirmed that the Germany U20s would go through into the quarter-final of the World Cup in South Korea two days after they defeated Vanuatu 3-2 in the final group stage game. Honduras’ 1-0 win over Vietnam in Group E on Sunday night evening meant that Guido Streichsbier’s U20 outfit finished as one of the best third-placed teams, and would stay in the competition for now. The 47-year-old discusses Wednesday’s game against Zambia (13:00 CEST), the expectations he has of his boys, and his first experience with a video assistant referee.
DFB.de: Mr. Streichsbier, how happy were you upon finding out that your team qualified to the World Cup quarter-final?
Guido Streichsbier: We were pleased to make it through to the next round after a group stage which we took some time to get going in. However, the players and coaches have been disappointed with the performances we’ve displayed so far. We know we need to raise our game.
DFB.de: Now African champions and winners of Group C Zambia await you.
Streichsbier: It’ll definitely be tougher than it was in the group. We’ve collected information on Zambia and we’ll go over that in the next few days. Zambia are a physically strong team with good chemistry, evidenced by their different rituals before and after the game. The World Cup here in South Korea is a big stage upon which Zambia can showcase their football to the world.
DFB.de: What rituals are you aware of?
Streichsbier: The players sing a gospel song as they’re running on or on their way to the bus, and after games they get on their knees and pray. Rituals like that give a team great spirit.
DFB.de: What things would you place particular emphasis on as you prepare for the quarter-final?
Streichsbier: The relegation playoffs in Germany meant that we have a reduced squad, and a few injuries alongside Maxi Mittelstädt’s suspension only make things more difficult. We’ll have to see who we have available to us for the game against Zambia, and then we’ll decide on our strategy – but for me there’s something more important.
DFB.de: Namely?
Streichsbier: It’s about playing much better than we did against Vanuatu.
DFB.de: You had your first experience with the video assistant referee in that game against Vanuatu when a foul in the box on Suat Serdar led to a penalty.
Streichsbier: It was unusual to see the referee give a corner before the decision was corrected. We didn’t know what was going on to begin with because the referee didn’t signal for the video assistant’s help. Then we were thrilled to see how things turned out.
DFB.de: Good news for the Germany U20s...
Streichsbier: That’s true. We profited off it this time, even though Suat Serdar unfortunately missed the ensuing penalty. I’m on board with the idea of a video assistant referee, simply because it makes football fairer.
DFB.de: Have you had any other experiences with the video assistant referee?
Streichsbier: Zambia, our next opponents, had a goal disallowed for a retrospective offside decision against Costa Rica (the game finished 1-0). The video assistant referee made the correct decision here and so it’s paid off twice so far already in the U20 World Cup. I think that it’ll be a good addition to the game once we’re all used to the idea and optimise the system. I advocate anything that makes football fairer and doesn’t interfere with play too much.
