For the first time in twelve years, the DFB-team has reached the semifinal of a European Championship. Germany defeated Portugal 3-2 in the first quarterfinal of the EURO 2008. „The team was hungry tonight“, said Hans-Dieter Flick, Germany’s assistant coach, who had to stand-in for the suspended Joachim Löw.
Hans-Dieter Flick (assistant coach): We want to reach the final. Pressure in the final group game against Austria had been tremendous. Then, we had accomplished our first goal, reaching the elimination round. The team was hungry tonight. Now we are ready for more. I had no contact with Joachim Löw during the game, but that did not matter, as we were well prepared. Everything turned out perfect tonight.
Joachim Löw (headcoach): Following the game in the box behind the glass plate was a terrible experience. You feel alienated. You see some things better than from pitch-level, but the distance is nerve-wrecking. We knew that we had to change things following our performance against Austria. I felt that the team played below our standard both versus Croatia and Austria. So we had to send a message. The transisition from defending to attacking was one of our prime goals for tonight, and I think we did well there.
Franz Beckenbauer: What a great game. Both sides attacked with determination. The fans saw five goals, it really was a very exciting game.
Michael Ballack: We hit a hole following the loss against Croatia. None of us was satisfied, some talked openly about some critical issues. I thought that we had played well against Austria, expecially considering the mental pressure. We felt relief following that win, and tonight you could see that.
Philipp Lahm: Believing is everything. Without it, nothing can be done. The team showed a courageous game tonight. We have defeated Portugal and have reached the semifnal, what more can you ask for?
Luiz Felipe Scolari (coach Portugal): Germany simply was the better team when it counted the most.
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For the first time in twelve years, the DFB-team has reached the semifinal of a European Championship. Germany defeated Portugal 3-2 in the first quarterfinal of the EURO 2008. „The team was hungry tonight“, said Hans-Dieter Flick, Germany’s assistant coach, who had to stand-in for the suspended Joachim Löw.
Hans-Dieter Flick (assistant coach): We want to reach the final. Pressure in the final group game against Austria had been tremendous. Then, we had accomplished our first goal, reaching the elimination round. The team was hungry tonight. Now we are ready for more. I had no contact with Joachim Löw during the game, but that did not matter, as we were well prepared. Everything turned out perfect tonight.
Joachim Löw (headcoach): Following the game in the box behind the glass plate was a terrible experience. You feel alienated. You see some things better than from pitch-level, but the distance is nerve-wrecking. We knew that we had to change things following our performance against Austria. I felt that the team played below our standard both versus Croatia and Austria. So we had to send a message. The transisition from defending to attacking was one of our prime goals for tonight, and I think we did well there.
Franz Beckenbauer: What a great game. Both sides attacked with determination. The fans saw five goals, it really was a very exciting game.
Michael Ballack: We hit a hole following the loss against Croatia. None of us was satisfied, some talked openly about some critical issues. I thought that we had played well against Austria, expecially considering the mental pressure. We felt relief following that win, and tonight you could see that.
Philipp Lahm: Believing is everything. Without it, nothing can be done. The team showed a courageous game tonight. We have defeated Portugal and have reached the semifnal, what more can you ask for?
Luiz Felipe Scolari (coach Portugal): Germany simply was the better team when it counted the most.
