The trip to Asia comes at the end of a long, draining and exhausting season. With Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen taking center-stage at the Cup final in Berlin’s historic Olympic Stadium, some national players such as Simon Rolfes, Patrick Helmes and Tim Wiese will definetely not board the plane to Shanghai. Michael Ballack, the team’s captain, will not make the trip either. Yet with all difficulties considered, the trip to China and the United Arab Emirates carries many positive effects as well, as Oliver Bierhoff explains in this exclusive DFB.de-interview with internet editor Christian Müller.
"Our two games in Asia offer us the opportunity for a final checkup, before the start of the 'World Cup season'. Our coaching staff intends to cut the roster of candidate players for South Africa to 30. 35 players would be an absolute maximum. For some players, these two games in Shanghai and Dubai offer the chance to catch the coaches' eyes", says Bierhoff. The 41-year old manager scored the 'Golden Goal' in the 1996 final of the European Championships. Germany face China on May 29 (2 P.M. CET, live on ARD) and the U.A.E. on June 2 (8 P.M., live on ZDF).
Question: Mr. Bierhoff, there has been some criticism about the timing of this trip to Asia.
Oliver Bierhoff: That's not surprising when you schedule friendly matches at the end of a season. We will not waste any moment, though, but instead use each match to develop the players. We will grow as a team. Obviously, we’ll have to replace some players. Scheduling the game during FIFA's release period would have been the alternative. Then we'd have travelled to Asia with a complete team. But that cuts into the guys' holidays even more. 2009 is a year between major tournaments, so our internationals should have some regenerative period. They had a short summer in 2008. If we qualify for South Africa, they’ll have a short summer again.
Question: Do you see other benefits?
Bierhoff: Since we played China in Hamburg in October 2005, we still had an open contractual obligation, one that we fulfill now. These trips tend to have a great effect on the team chemistry. And finally, history shows that there's always a young gun, that has his breakthrough on such a stint: Lukas Podolski during the trip to Asia in 2004. Peer Mertesacker and Thomas Hitzlsperger had their debut in Iran in 2004. The 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup was such a disappointment seen from the DFB-perspective, but then again, it was the breakthrough-moment for Bernd Schneider.
Question: Please assess the importance of the trip in regards to the team?
Bierhoff: "Our two games in Asia offer us the opportunity for a final checkup, before the start of the 'World Cup season'. Our coaching staff intends to cut the roster of candidate players for South Africa to 30. 35 players would be an absolute maximum. For some players, even more so for the debutants, these two games in Shanghai and Dubai offer the chance to catch the coaches' eyes. Please remember that our first game following the summer break is a vital World Cup qualifying match, as we play in Aserbaidschan on August 12. Our role as ambassadors of German football is very important to us. We'll bring a strong team to Asia. And we want to give the fans a reason the cheer. Even with the missing veterans, one should not forget that we have all the players from the top eight teams in the Bundesliga."
