Die Mannschaft started this World Cup year with a draw against a fellow favourite for this summer's tournament. The clash between reigning World Cup holders Germany and former winners Spain ended all square in Düsseldorf. We gathered the post-match reaction in Düsseldorf’s Espirit-Arena.
JOACHIM LÖW: I thought it was a great test for both teams. You saw that, at times tonight, both teams had some great link-up play, put pressure on one another, attacked quickly and pressed up high. Despite the pressing, both teams tried to play out from the back. We can learn a lot from tonight, that’s why we wanted to play against teams like Spain and Brazil. You can only truly gauge yourself as a team when you face the best. However, we still want to push on and improve. We can go up another gear and I think both teams haven’t shown their full hand yet. It was a very high quality game and I think the fans can be happy with what they’ve seen tonight.
MARC-ANDRÉ TER STEGEN: We played well for 70 to 80 minutes, In the second half, both teams started to struggle as they got tired but the first half was one of real quality. After conceding, we found our rhythm and got our act together at the back. 1-1 was a fair reflection of the game.
THOMAS MÜLLER: We’re always looking forward to playing against a side like Spain. We tried to make it hard for them but their quality still shone through at times. It was two similar sides going head-to-head. Both teams like to have the ball and don’t like chasing the ball. In stages, we weren’t at our best tonight but, in the middle of the first half, we had more of the ball and that helped us a lot. It could have ended 2-2 or 3-3. It was clear both teams have a lot of ability within their ranks. It was a good test for us but we want to be even better.
MATS HUMMELS: It was a quality game of football. We wanted to go out and attack but Spain came out all guns blazing. They were exceptional in the early stages and caused us problems. However, we kept our cool, re-organised and showed our own class.
TONI KROOS: Spain were on top for the first 20 minutes and deserved to be ahead. Then, we got a foothold on the ball and, in turn, the game. All in all, it was a fair result. It was a good game of football. We’re putting in a solid level of performance.