Impressive Germany still improving warns Klose

Germany laid down a marker ahead of UEFA EURO 2012 with an impressive 3-0 friendly defeat of the Netherlands in Hamburg on Tuesday night. Goals by Thomas Müller, Miroslav Klose and Mesut Özil earned the three-time European champions an emphatic victory Netherlands striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar largely attributed to the "outstanding performances" of Özil and Klose, while the S.S. Lazio striker insisted, somewhat ominously for the other 15 finalists, that "we still have half a year to get better".

Lukaz Podolski, Germany forward
We wanted to show which team was better and I think we did that well. We always prepare ourselves very well before every match and this match was no different. We knew exactly how the Dutch would play. We ran a lot and were well-organised. The Netherlands didn't create any decent goalscoring chances – just a few long-range shots.

Over the years we have developed a really good offensive style of play. And if all our players stay fit and healthy we have one of the best attack-minded squads in the world. Miro Klose is a fantastic striker and proved that again impressively today. It's always special to beat the No2-ranked side in the world and it gives you a lot of confidence. We will analyse this as we do every match and we want to develop our play.

Per Mertesacker, Germany defender
It was a nice finish to a positive year for the national team, but although we know this win doesn't count for UEFA EURO 2012 we are glad that we have a nice big squad and that we will be competitive at the finals. We are pleased that we have this high level of quality and that we have cover for every position. In every single minute of the match we are desperate to win and we want to test ourselves again and again.

Miroslav Klose, Germany striker
At the moment it is fun that any player can replace another. There is great quality in this Germany squad. We don't talk about winning the European championship but we do want to get as far as possible. I think we are on the right track but UEFA EURO 2012 is half a year away. So we still have time to get better.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Netherlands striker
We didn't play well. It wasn't too bad to begin with but then we conceded two goals and after that we were poor. We lost too easily. We weren't surprised by the Germans. We knew beforehand they would be really strong and they can play good attacking football. But today was not our best day. Klose and Özil gave outstanding performances and we couldn't stop them. I think we deserved to lose today. This is a sign that we have to learn from today, so that we play better when UEFA EURO 2012 starts.