Germany's chances of reaching the last eight of the 2004 European championships hang in the balance after debutants Latvia held the three-time European champions to a scoreless draw here Saturday.
In the proverbial David versus Goliath clash tiny Latvia, with a
population of 2.4 million, recorded their first point ever in a
major tournament and put a huge dent in Germany's chances of
progessing from Group D.
However German coach Rudi Voller refused to savage his team
despite an unimaginative performance."We knew it would be hard, but I can't criticise the team," said the 1990 World Cup winning striker, who guided Germany unexpectedly to the 2002 World Cup final. "They tried everything and Miroslav Klose had a great chance at the end. We were perhaps a little cautious. And when you don't have shots at goal, you can't win games."
However defender Philipp Lahm said they should have done better.
"We had hoped for more so naturally we are very disappointed,"
said the 20-year-old VfB Stuttgart fullback. "It is hard to play against a team who keep so many men in defence. We did have scoring chances, but we didn't make them count. I don't think we played well and against teams like that we should have done better."
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[bild1]Germany's chances of reaching the last eight of the 2004 European championships hang in the balance after debutants Latvia held the three-time European champions to a scoreless draw here Saturday.
In the proverbial David versus Goliath clash tiny Latvia, with a
population of 2.4 million, recorded their first point ever in a
major tournament and put a huge dent in Germany's chances of
progessing from Group D.
However German coach Rudi Voller refused to savage his team
despite an unimaginative performance."We knew it would be hard, but I can't criticise the team," said the 1990 World Cup winning striker, who guided Germany unexpectedly to the 2002 World Cup final. "They tried everything and Miroslav Klose had a great chance at the end. We were perhaps a little cautious. And when you don't have shots at goal, you can't win games."
However defender Philipp Lahm said they should have done better.
"We had hoped for more so naturally we are very disappointed,"
said the 20-year-old VfB Stuttgart fullback. "It is hard to play against a team who keep so many men in defence. We did have scoring chances, but we didn't make them count. I don't think we played well and against teams like that we should have done better."
