Germany suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to world champions France in their Group F opener at EURO 2020. Mats Hummels’ own goal after 20 minutes was all that separated the two sides on Tuesday night in Munich. DFB.de gathered the reaction from head coach Joachim Löw and his players.
Joachim Löw: It was a brutally intensive match. The players threw everything into it and fought right until the final whistle. I can’t fault their effort today. We got stuck in, but we were lacking penetration in the final third. The own goal was unlucky; it’s difficult for Mats to clear the ball. We tried to use the flanks and deliver crosses as we knew that France would keep the middle of the pitch compact. We will have to analyse things tomorrow and switch our focus to the next game. We’re all disappointed right now, but it’s not the end of the world. There are still two more games with which we can get back on track.
Toni Kroos: We were able to implement much of our game plan. We played well and had chances to score, just as many as France. An unfortunate goal decided the game. We knew that France have individual quality, but we controlled a lot of the game. I don’t remember them having many counterattacks. We just couldn’t get the goal. We need to look ahead. When you lose the first game and there are only three, then of course there is pressure.
Joshua Kimmich: We weren’t the weaker side today. We showed dominance and went behind through an unfortunate own goal. We then didn’t manage to take enough risks going forward. We would probably have deserved a point in the end. We have the quality to compete against the top teams – France are the tournament favourites and we need to show in the next game that we are favourites too.
Robin Gosens: We knew France had tremendous individual quality. We wanted to defend against it. We were very aggressive in our 50-50s, and we had the two big chances, which is often all you get against France. We couldn’t take them, which is really frustrating.
Germany suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to world champions France in their Group F opener at EURO 2020. Mats Hummels’ own goal after 20 minutes was all that separated the two sides on Tuesday night in Munich. DFB.de gathered the reaction from head coach Joachim Löw and his players.
Joachim Löw: It was a brutally intensive match. The players threw everything into it and fought right until the final whistle. I can’t fault their effort today. We got stuck in, but we were lacking penetration in the final third. The own goal was unlucky; it’s difficult for Mats to clear the ball. We tried to use the flanks and deliver crosses as we knew that France would keep the middle of the pitch compact. We will have to analyse things tomorrow and switch our focus to the next game. We’re all disappointed right now, but it’s not the end of the world. There are still two more games with which we can get back on track.
Toni Kroos: We were able to implement much of our game plan. We played well and had chances to score, just as many as France. An unfortunate goal decided the game. We knew that France have individual quality, but we controlled a lot of the game. I don’t remember them having many counterattacks. We just couldn’t get the goal. We need to look ahead. When you lose the first game and there are only three, then of course there is pressure.
Joshua Kimmich: We weren’t the weaker side today. We showed dominance and went behind through an unfortunate own goal. We then didn’t manage to take enough risks going forward. We would probably have deserved a point in the end. We have the quality to compete against the top teams – France are the tournament favourites and we need to show in the next game that we are favourites too.
Robin Gosens: We knew France had tremendous individual quality. We wanted to defend against it. We were very aggressive in our 50-50s, and we had the two big chances, which is often all you get against France. We couldn’t take them, which is really frustrating.
