FIFA World Cup 2010: German Manager Joachim Loew confident ahead of Germany vs Spain Semifinal
Germany is gearing up for their big semifinal encounter against Spain, and their coach Joachim Loew has said that he is not going to make the mistake of taking the Spanish side lightly, and he knows that there are number of players in Del Bosque’s team that are as good as Argentina's Lionel Messi.
Loew said that Messi was built up to be the best player in the world, but he could not perform on the big stage; however, Germany don’t just have one big player; in fact they have several Messis in their team.
He said that Spain does not make too many mistakes in the game, and his team would have to be on its toes at all times if they are to match up to the European champions.
3-time World Cup winners Germany have been head and shoulders above the rest in the 2010 World Cup, and showed two scintillating displays of counterattacking football: they smashed 4 against England and followed it up with 4 more against a big team like Argentina. So far, Germany have been the highest scorers in the World Cup, with 13 goals.
Before the Germany-Argentina quarterfinal, all the talk was about Messi, but Loew set up his team in a way that Messi was pretty much nullified, and Germany dominated the two-time world champions throughout in Cape Town.
Most of the pundits have tipped Germany to win their 4th World Cup, but German Manager Loew has played down the prospect of them being favourites by saying that Spain possess an array of world class players that can turn the game on its head any time. Referring to David Villa, Andres Iniesta and Xavi, Loew added that against Argentina they had to mark Messi and Tevez, but with Spain, the list of players to mark and watch out for is long. Therefore, it would be difficult to tame them with a simple pre-match plan.
The last time these two teams met was in the final of the European Championships in 2008, where Spain won 1 nil via a goal from Fernando Torres. Loew, though, has played down the talk of revenge, saying that he has forgotten about that defeat and will only be focused on winning the match rather than going back in time and wondering what went wrong.
The German manager said that Spain have been consistent in the World Cup, and have maintained a high tempo game throughout.
The 50 year old German boss said that back in 2008, his team was not as good as his new young team this time around, and he believes that the mobility and speed of his team will once again be the key against Spain, as he knows that Spain will play an attacking brand of football.
Loew has immense confidence in his team, and believes that they can dominate the game throughout, unlike other teams who have patches of dominance but fade away as the game goes on. He thinks his team is technically and physically very well equipped to take on not just Spain but anyone in the world right now, as they showed in the quarterfinals against Argentina.
Loew, who was assisting Jurgen Klinsmann in the 2006 World Cup, identified Xavi and Iniesta as the main threat in midfield, and said that these two players have the ability to create something from nothing, and can play hold-up play as well as attacking from midfield, so if his team can get hold of these two key men, they should be able to tame the Spaniard front-line as well.
Loew also praised the team before their Round of 16 match against England, and said that they had what it takes to take on England, and did the same against Argentina; now he has once again shown confidence in his team, and said that his young team have what it takes to overhaul the European champions. Whether Loew is able to live up to his word or not will be unveiled when the dust settles on Wednesday.
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