Gomez assures Turkey of German motivation
Saturday, October 8, 2011
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After Mario Gomez and Thomas Müller scored in Germany's 3-1 win in Istanbul, they reassured play-off chasing Turkey that Belgium will not have it easy claiming second place on Tuesday.
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Goalscorers Mario Gomez and Thomas Müller reassured Turkey that Germany will be motivated to beat Belgium in their final UEFA EURO 2012 qualifier on Tuesday after a 3-1 success in Istanbul.
A home win against Kazakhstan means Belgium now sit second in Group A, a point above Turkey, but a trip to top dogs Germany awaits Georges Leekens's team on the final day, while Turkey host Azerbaijan, and Gomez, who scored his side's first goal against Turkey, insisted Germany will do Belgium no favours, despite having already confirmed their place at UEFA EURO 2012.
"We can achieve a perfect record by winning ten games in a row so that will be our motivation in our final match," said the in-form FC Bayern München forward. "Motivation is never a problem for this group. We managed to concentrate fully tonight, and dominated from start to finish."
Fellow goalscorer Müller echoed the sentiments of his club-mate: "The coach makes sure we are always motivated, and besides, once we are on the pitch we enjoy playing together. That is precisely what we plan to do again on Tuesday."
The news will be music to the ears of Germany-born Turkey midfielder Hamit Altıntop who is ruing the fact that his side's fate no longer rests in their own hands. "It is true we have lost the advantage over Belgium. From now on we will concentrate on Azerbaijan. Unfortunately we will also have to wait for the result of their game as that will be decisive for us."
"Germany hurt us on the counterattack but if we had scored our chances the result would have been different," said the Real Madrid CF player. "Of course all of that is irrelevant now. The only thing that matters is to get second place in the group."
Team-mate Kazim Kazim, having replaced Arda Turan in the 70th minute, has confidence in Germany's professionalism: "I feel they want to win all their group games, much as Spain did two years ago when they qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. So I don't think they will take it easy against Belgium. Which makes our task even more clear; we simply have to win against Azerbaijan."
