Momentum gathering for triumphant Germany
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
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"Every victory gives you an extra push," said Bastian Schweinsteiger as he and his Germany team-mates celebrated a 2-1 Group B win against the Netherlands in steamy Kharkiv.
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Germany's players were glad to have kept their momentum going at UEFA EURO 2012, overcoming the Netherlands 2-1 in Kharkiv, but while they need only a point to be certain of qualifying, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Co are after all three in their final Group B game.
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Germany midfielder
It was really hot, but we worked from the first minute and absolutely wanted to take that second step. In attack we managed to get more free space and used it well. We can approach the final game against Denmark with a lot of self-confidence – every victory gives you an extra push. We definitely want to win that game against Denmark.
Holger Badstuber, Germany defender
I think we can be satisfied – it was our aim to get the second victory. We didn't succeed in doing that in previous tournaments, winning the second one. Today we succeeded and I think, especially in the first half, that we played some very good football, despite the heat. It was very humid so we did a very good job, playing very economically. In the second half we lost our way a little, but it was a well-deserved victory. We were ice-cool in front of goal.
When it went to 2-1 the mood sank, but after that they had no chances. They had two or three opportunities throughout the match. They scored the goal from a bit of individual skill, but I think that we performed quite well against a very good Dutch team – they have excellent players.
Philipp Lahm, Germany defender
We are very happy about our second win. For an hour we played really well, but then the Netherlands proved that they have a great team. Right now we are just happy about this win. Mario's goals were world-class – we know how important he is for us.
Mario Gomez, Germany forward
The expectations were very high even before the tournament, and that's always very difficult – you don't know where you stand at the beginning, and as you can see the Dutch have no points after two matches. Everything can disappear so fast. We have made such a good start to the tournament, but there is still a long way to go to the final.
