Spain 'setting the standard'
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Article summary
Group B reaction: Dieter Eilts was full of praise for the opposition after his Germany side were defeated.
Article body
GERMANY 0-3 SPAIN
Dieter Eilts, Germany
I'm slightly disappointed with the way the game turned out, especially after the form we showed in qualifying. But first, I think it is important we congratulate the Spanish on a wonderful performance. I think they will set the standard in this competition. They pass the ball well, create chances and were truly excellent today and deserved the win. We scored 25 goals in five games in qualifying and so to suddenly not score any is frustrating. The thing which worries me most is that we did not create many good chances. Spain are a good side - but so are we. We should at least be putting them under pressure. We looked anxious and gave Spain too much respect. No team should be allowed to put us under pressure like that.
Armando Ufarte, Spain
We have worked extremely hard to prepare ourselves for this tournament so this is a very satisfying opening result. I thought we worked exceptionally hard throughout the game. It seemed that all our possession was going to be without reward after the first half where we saw plenty of the ball and created chances galore but struggled to convert them. But we eventually found our touch in front of goal in the second half and I am delighted with our three goals. Germany had no answer. On reflection I think we deserved the victory and we are now in a strong position to go on and qualify from the group.
POLAND 3-4 TURKEY
Andrzej Zamilski, Poland
Our display in the first half was very poor, but in the second half very good. I think Turkey won the first period and we won the second. We had many chances but Turkey are a very technical side who have a number of very quick players. They are not tall but they are strong and Ali Öztürk [who scored a hat-trick] was the best player on the pitch.
Gündüz Tekin Onay, Turkey
Poland are a very technical football nation, but I think our tactics were better tonight. Ali Öztürk is firstly a team player but also a great individual. I am very happy that he managed to score three goals.
