Former Germany international, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Italy-c2926.
From Mannschaft’s start to the European Championships no one would have thought they would exit the tournament in this manner. The DFB eleven were heavily fancied to lift the trophy in Kiev on 1st July.
Joachim Low’s side put in some fine performances against the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Denmark-c2884.
They impressed the neutrals with their solid defensive and attacking performances, and earned rave reviews from the press. The Germans enjoyed a perfect record in the group stages by picking up maximum points. In the quarter-finals
they eased past a hapless http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Greece-c2908 side, but their real test awaited them in the semi-finals.
In the last-four clash, Die Nationalelf were up against Italy. When the two sides met, Cesare Prandelli looked much stronger; the Italian midfielders were comfortable in possession and made life difficult for their German counterparts.
Joachim Low’s side lost the game 2-1 but the score-line could have been around 4-0 to Italy.
The former Bayern Munich goalkeeper believes his side’s shaky defence cost them the game. Kahn knows that it is suicidal to make defensive errors in such a crucial game, he insists that at this level attackers capitalise on the
smallest of errors.
He blamed loss of concentration for both goals. The former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Germany-c2904 international reckons Lahm and Hummels were in a very advanced position for both goals.
“You cannot afford to make individual errors at such a high level. The higher the level, the more concentration is required. Blatant defensive errors will be immediately punished by world class players,”
“For both Italy goals, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Philipp-Lahm-c29929 were too far forward,” he is quoted as saying in an interview.
Kahn also accused Joachim Low’s men of lacking the passion; he stated that along with skill and quality on the ball you must have the fighting spirit when the team is losing or the battle gets fierce.
“When the battle is hard, there comes a time in football when will, passion, discipline, aggression and even some dirt is required,” he added.
The Italians’ experience in major tournaments was a major factor in spurring them to victory. This Mannschaft team however, is still young and has a lot of quality, and has reached three semi-finals in four years. The quality is
there but they just lack that mental edge and fighting spirit.
Tags: