Germany versus Brazil - a classic encounter in national team football and now for the first time it will be for the Olympic gold medal. Horst Hrubesch’s side come up against the hosts and Barcelona superstar Neymar. The best attack in the tournament (21 goals) face the best defence (0 conceded). An absolute dream final and World Champion Matthias Ginter is right in the middle of it all.
The Borussia Dortmund defender returns to the site of Germany's 2014 World Cup victory: the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. "I'm sure some emotions will come flooding back," said the 22-year-old. "I was already allowed to be part of a historic achievement two years ago and now we also want to bring the gold medal back to Germany."
Ginter one of the leading figures
Ginter, then 20 years old, did not make an appearance at the 2014 World Cup, but this time around he is one of the team's leading figures. "The return to Brazil was something special right from the start," explains Ginter. "Like in 2014, we had our first game in Salvador and our third group match was played in Belo Horizonte and we once again showed that it was a good ground for German football teams." Hrubesch's men stormed to a 10-0 victory over Fiji in the Estadio Mineirao, securing their place in the quarterfinal. In 2014, Joachim Löw's side recorded a historic 7-1 semi-final victory over hosts Brazil in the same stadium.
The Olympic team coach is not interested in comparing the 2014 contest with the upcoming encounter for the gold medal. "We don't think about that at all," said Hrubesch. "We are playing with a completely different team and Brazil are as well. It will be a top game between two evenly matched teams." Hrubesch has no injury worries to complain about as all players are fit and on board. "We are really happy that there are no injuries at all," revealed the 65-year-old.
Neymar: Brazil's star and key player
Both teams have had a similar run-up to the final in this tournament. They each struggled early on and recorded two draws from their opening two games, before eventually improving on their path to the gold medal match. Brazil's key player is their skipper Neymar from Barcelona, who is competing in his second Olympics.
Horst Hrubesch however is well aware that Brazil are not just threatening through their superstar: "We are playing against Brazil and not just Neymar. We can't just focus on one player if we want to win the game," emphasised the coach. Hrubesch hopes his team can reproduce their defensive performance from the past three games, in which they didn’t concede a single goal but at the same time he also points towards Germany's attacking strength: "21 goals scored speak for themselves don't they?" They also indicate that Germany has the best chance of scoring a goal against the host nation, who are yet to concede this tournament.
Germany versus Brazil - a classic encounter in national team football and now for the first time it will be for the Olympic gold medal. Horst Hrubesch’s side come up against the hosts and Barcelona superstar Neymar. The best attack in the tournament (21 goals) face the best defence (0 conceded). An absolute dream final and World Champion Matthias Ginter is right in the middle of it all.
The Borussia Dortmund defender returns to the site of Germany's 2014 World Cup victory: the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. "I'm sure some emotions will come flooding back," said the 22-year-old. "I was already allowed to be part of a historic achievement two years ago and now we also want to bring the gold medal back to Germany."
Ginter one of the leading figures
Ginter, then 20 years old, did not make an appearance at the 2014 World Cup, but this time around he is one of the team's leading figures. "The return to Brazil was something special right from the start," explains Ginter. "Like in 2014, we had our first game in Salvador and our third group match was played in Belo Horizonte and we once again showed that it was a good ground for German football teams." Hrubesch's men stormed to a 10-0 victory over Fiji in the Estadio Mineirao, securing their place in the quarterfinal. In 2014, Joachim Löw's side recorded a historic 7-1 semi-final victory over hosts Brazil in the same stadium.
The Olympic team coach is not interested in comparing the 2014 contest with the upcoming encounter for the gold medal. "We don't think about that at all," said Hrubesch. "We are playing with a completely different team and Brazil are as well. It will be a top game between two evenly matched teams." Hrubesch has no injury worries to complain about as all players are fit and on board. "We are really happy that there are no injuries at all," revealed the 65-year-old.
Neymar: Brazil's star and key player
Both teams have had a similar run-up to the final in this tournament. They each struggled early on and recorded two draws from their opening two games, before eventually improving on their path to the gold medal match. Brazil's key player is their skipper Neymar from Barcelona, who is competing in his second Olympics.
Horst Hrubesch however is well aware that Brazil are not just threatening through their superstar: "We are playing against Brazil and not just Neymar. We can't just focus on one player if we want to win the game," emphasised the coach. Hrubesch hopes his team can reproduce their defensive performance from the past three games, in which they didn’t concede a single goal but at the same time he also points towards Germany's attacking strength: "21 goals scored speak for themselves don't they?" They also indicate that Germany has the best chance of scoring a goal against the host nation, who are yet to concede this tournament.
