Marc Stendera is a phenom on the pitch. He is no sprinter or dribbler but, when he has the ball he is dangerous. The play-maker is constantly moving throughout the pitch, it doesn’t matter if he plays upfront or if he waits for play to come to him he is effective anywhere. In addition to his great build up play, his passing is very precise.
The 19-year-old also has incredible free-kick accuracy as DFB.de correspondent Peter Scheffler sat down with the two-time goal scorer as they talked about where his free kick precision comes from, his first Bundesliga season and what makes the U20 team so strong.
DFB.de: Congratulations Mr. Stendera for three things. Firstly, for the win over Uzbekistan, Secondly for the qualification into the round of 16 and lastly for the two goals you scored against Uzbekistan.
Marc Stendera: Thank you very much. We played very well yesterday. The Uzbek’s left us with little room and played very far back. Under these circumstances, we played very well. Two games, two wins, we can’t complain at all.
DFB.de: It was rather obvious how you guys applied pressure on Uzbekistan in their halve.
Stendera: That was our tactical plan from the start. It is a good method against teams who are limited because they can’t play their own game. Our goal was to win the ball back directly after losing it. Either through challenges or intercepting their long balls, we wanted to be in possession. It worked out for us as it gave us confidence throughout the match.
DFB.de: Another tactical decision was in the attacking end of the pitch. Without Davie Selke and Tim Kleindienst you guys have really needed to rotate different players in and out. That has worked out pretty well, right?
Stendera: We are not used to playing with an actually striker to cause problems up front. We played like that during the whole season so it’s rather new for us. But, as a team we compensate rather well. All of the attacking players that are here must score goals. We have a good eye as we know where we all play on the pitch. We understand each other very well while on the pitch.
Marc Stendera is a phenom on the pitch. He is no sprinter or dribbler but, when he has the ball he is dangerous. The play-maker is constantly moving throughout the pitch, it doesn’t matter if he plays upfront or if he waits for play to come to him he is effective anywhere. In addition to his great build up play, his passing is very precise.
The 19-year-old also has incredible free-kick accuracy as DFB.de correspondent Peter Scheffler sat down with the two-time goal scorer as they talked about where his free kick precision comes from, his first Bundesliga season and what makes the U20 team so strong.
DFB.de: Congratulations Mr. Stendera for three things. Firstly, for the win over Uzbekistan, Secondly for the qualification into the round of 16 and lastly for the two goals you scored against Uzbekistan.
Marc Stendera: Thank you very much. We played very well yesterday. The Uzbek’s left us with little room and played very far back. Under these circumstances, we played very well. Two games, two wins, we can’t complain at all.
DFB.de: It was rather obvious how you guys applied pressure on Uzbekistan in their halve.
Stendera: That was our tactical plan from the start. It is a good method against teams who are limited because they can’t play their own game. Our goal was to win the ball back directly after losing it. Either through challenges or intercepting their long balls, we wanted to be in possession. It worked out for us as it gave us confidence throughout the match.
DFB.de: Another tactical decision was in the attacking end of the pitch. Without Davie Selke and Tim Kleindienst you guys have really needed to rotate different players in and out. That has worked out pretty well, right?
Stendera: We are not used to playing with an actually striker to cause problems up front. We played like that during the whole season so it’s rather new for us. But, as a team we compensate rather well. All of the attacking players that are here must score goals. We have a good eye as we know where we all play on the pitch. We understand each other very well while on the pitch.
DFB.de: After scoring in the first game through penalty, you scored two more goals yesterday. I guess I can say that everything is going well.
Stendera: Of course I am happy about my goals. But, it’s not important to me who scores them, but instead that the team plays well. Still, I am happy with the way I’ve been playing. There are worse things than to score goals. (Laughing)
DFB.de: You guys are efficient with your set pieces, which seems to be a strong point of the team at the moment.
Stendera: The whole team worked on set pieces very well so that we have a wide variety to choose from. We showed that in our first game that it works as we scored four goals from set pieces. Against a team who is compact defensively it’s a good way to score goals. We have Marc Kempf and Niklas Stark who are both very good in the air.
DFB.de: Free-kicks seem to be your speciality. With your club team Eintracht Frankfurt, you are the designated free kick taker as a 19-year-old. What is your secret?
Stendera: To be honest, I don’t have any secretes when taking free-kicks. I concentrate on my body technique, and that I hit the ball properly. I know that my strengths that I bring to the table. If it results in a goal, then that is even better.
DFB.de: The biggest surprise of the World Cup took place before your game as Fiji defeated Honduras 3-0. Did you think that Fiji could pull something off like this after an 8-1 battering against you guys?
Stendera: Not really, but it shows that in football everything is possible. Fiji played very well in the first half of the match against us. They gave everything and played well defensively. Everyone in the team is happy for Fiji as it is their first World Cup and they are seen as total wild cards. This is probably such a great experience for their team.
DFB.de: U20 coach Frank Wormuth took Fiji’s result over Honduras as a talking point for his pre-game speech. His message was that you should not under-estimate any team at the World Cup.
Stendera: That is very important. That game showed that Fiji, who have zero experience, beat one of the group favourites. We also need to be 100 percent to beat our opponents, even if it is Uzbekistan.
DFB.de: In the 84th minute you were subbed off. Were you injured or just exhausted?
Stendera: I was just knackered. The season was very long, and yesterday I went too hard. Getting subbed out never hurts my stamina.
DFB.de: In your team you were one of the players who covered the most kilometres. Are you going to torture yourself again at the U20 World Cup?
Stendera: I always try to go as long as I can. I am not a natural born sprinter, but I have very good stamina. I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself, the games are fun. We want to achieve much more in New Zealand. So, I will gladly push myself to the limit.
DFB.de: After two games you have qualified for the round of 16. Have you already started to scout your next possible opponents?
Stendera: Of course, we watch the games and follow the other groups. But, if we play Hungary or Nigeria it doesn't matter. We have so much quality that we can beat every team in the tournament if we play properly.
DFB.de: Looking back on it, how would you say your season was at Eintracht Frankfurt?
Stendera: Even though I made appearances previously with the team, this was my first actual season. We had some highs and lows, but at the end of the day we can be happy about it. I can’t complain as I played often and was constantly on the pitch.
DFB.de: Despite a good season, Thomas Schaaf parted from the team and you guys are currently without a coach.
Stendera: I think it’s pretty unfortunate, but the decision can’t be changed. I want to concentrate myself fully on the World Cup and stay here as long as possible.
