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Germans care about wins, not style
Posted: Wednesday July 01, 1998 01:33 PM
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The German work ethic has shown through with some impressive comebacks (AP) |
NICE, France (AP) --
Leave the "beautiful game" to the others. The Germans have other qualities
and they have worked for them in the past. These assets are working for
them again "We can't play the way Brazilians play.
No German team has ever been able to do so," coach Berti Vogts said
Wednesday. "We worked very hard on our stamina and our speed and in the
second half, our better fitness often becomes an advantage." Vogts
was responding to criticism from home that the German team may be winning,
but is not entertaining. "I can only use the players that are
available and that's what I did," he said. "We are among the top eight
teams in the world and look what teams have been eliminated." German
determination, stamina, discipline and fighting spirit has won the country
three World Cup titles, often at expense of more talented teams. Germany rallied
with two goals in the final 15 minutes to beat Mexico 2-1 and
reach the quarterfinals. It also had to rally from a two-goal deficit to
draw Yugoslavia
2-2 in group play. In both matches, the Germans used sheer will to
overcome the technical superiority of their opponents. "It has to do
with tradition," captain and frward Juergen Klinsmann said. "Also, I think
other nations are envious of us for the way we are able to turn the games."
"I think we have some qualities in our mentality -- that we never
give up, even when we are behind," Klinsmann said. "We are still able to
switch to a higher gear. This ability to play 90 minutes at full throttle,
that's what other nations don't have." Other nations also don't have
Klinsmann and his striking partner Oliver Bierhoff, who have scored three
goals each -- accounting for six of Germany's eight goals. In the
quarterfinals Saturday in Lyon, Germany faces a familiar opponent: Croatia.
In an ill-tempered match two years ago, Germany beat Croatia 2-1 in the
quarterfinals of the European Championship and went on to win the title.
But Croatia could have easily won the game as well. "We know them
and it's going to be a tough job," Klinsmann said. "Technically, they are
very strong, they have very good individuals." "With all due respect to
Croatia, however, it's really up to us and I am very optimistic. We want to
go to Paris and it really depends only on us." "They were very
aggressive in Manchester," said Klinsmann, who was nearly sent off for a
vicious tackle. "We must take charge early and keep the pace high."
Vogts hopes his 100th game as manager will bring his team more success.
Since he took the team over in 1990, he's won 66 times, lost 11 and drawn
the other 22. "I'm glad we are playing Croatia. We had a very tough game
against them two years ago," Vogts said. Vogts said he didn't watch
the Croatia's 1-0 victory over Romania --
partly out of superstition. At the 1992 European Championship in
Sweden, Vogts watched Denmark in the
semifinals -- and Germany lost the final to Denmark. He also watched Bulgaria at
the 1994 World Cup in the United
States, only to see his team eliminated by the Bulgarians 2-1 in the
quarterfinals. "We have demonstrated how tough it is to beat us,"
Vogts said. "Against Mexico, we showed marked improvement. But we still
have to improve." Croatia's game relies on the midfield creativity
of Zvonimir Boban and the scoring skill of Davor Suker. "We have to
concentrate on our strengths and we have to try to mark their best men out
of the game and then we can win," Vogts said. "They may try to provoke us,
but we must ignore it."
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