The Arsenal attacker wants his side to live up to the expectations of the supporters.
In the 2010 World Cup Germany played some eye catching football, and narrowly missed out on the chance to go all the way. Joachim Low’s men were expected to display the same attacking flair in the 2012 European Championship.
In their first game against Portugal, the Germans were expected to be their ruthless attacking self. This time round, Die Mannschaft played to contain their opponents, and were successful in doing so. In that game DFB eleven only
managed to hit the target thrice, and only won two corners as compared to Portugal’s eleven.
The stats show that this German side is not worried about playing attractive football; they are more concerned about winning.
"The three points are important, maybe we did not play as well as in 2010, but we fought hard and in the end it was important to start off with a victory,” he is quoted as saying in an interview.
The forward further stressed on the need to improve their performances offensively, as Podolski pointed out that before Mario Gomez’s his side only had a single clear cut chance. The German cites this change as important because
in his opinion, after the world cup their image as a team has changed, now everyone wants Joachim Low’s men to play attractive football with lots of goals.
"Portugal had two good attacks at the end. We had little space, even after the [goal that made it] 1-0. We did not play as well offensively as in 2010. We need to improve that. Everybody expects 'fun football' and attacking football
from us. We have to match those expectations," he added.
Die Nationalelf’s players know it will not be easy to play expansive and attractive football against Netherlands, who themselves are capable of playing some breathtaking stuff.
Joachim Low’s men will be wary of the Dutch, who are still hurting from their 1-0 loss to Denmark in the opening fixture of the ‘Group of Death’. The Germans will not risk underestimating their opponents as they know Bert van
Marwijk’s side will be looking to bounce back from what was a shocking defeat.
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