Germany started their Confed Cup campaign with a 3-2 win against Australia on MOnday. DFB spoke to coach Jaochim Löw as well as Captain Julian Draxler, Joshua Kimmich, Julian Brandt and Lars Stindl about the game in Sochi and the thoughts ahead of Thursday’s clash with Chile.
Joachim Löw: We can be happy with the wun. We played a very good first half and had a lot of chances to run at them. We linked up well but we let a lot of chances slip by. We seemed to lose a little bit of attacking threat towards the end. I am very satisfied, the boys tried to make things work. The boys know the basics and have a lot of quality. The fact we have only been together ten days as well it was still a very good performance. A lot of energy has been pumped into this team in a short space of time. They all want to make this tournament theirs. The teamwork and spirit in the group is very good.
There was not a lot Bernd Leno could do about the first goal but you would have expected him to hold onto the ball for the second. But that can happen with a young goalkeeper. If you take away the goals the Australians have not created much. Leon Goretzka always digs deep, he is technically and physically strong and was very good today.
Chile is one of the best teams in the world, technically as well as tactically. It will be good for us to see how we keep up with them over 90 minutes and see if we can match their intensity for the duration.
Julian Draxler: We needed to make more of our chances in that first period. There was less to consider in the second half and we seemed to run out of gas a little bit. We should not let that happen but as a start we are just happy to get the win. We are going to have to raise our game for the Chile match.
Joshua Kimmich: The first period was so good, we were so intense. But 2-1 probably was not enough considering the chances we had and we should not have conceded again so soon after making it 3-1. We ran out of steam towards the end and we must not let that happen against Chile. We need to be more efficient up top.
Julian Brandt: We were positive throughout and deserved the win. The fact everything wasn’t so perfect is normal. Our biggest problem today was the fact we didn’t take our chances. We should have gone in at half-time 3-1, maybe 4-1 up. But we will get better. Chile is a world class team, it will be a similar, hard fought game like today.
Lars Stindl: We have a few days to iron things out. In the first half we showed everything we had and controlled the game. Chile will be a difficult game - they have a lot to off out there.