Völler looks forward
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Article summary
Germany coach Rudi Völler insists his players must put the draw with Latvia behind them and start concentrating on the Czech Republic.
Article body
Goalless draw
The Group D outsiders held the three-times European champions to a goalless draw yesterday. Germany are in second place in the section - a point above the Netherlands and Latvia - but may need victory against the Czech Republic on Wednesday to join the latter in the quarter-finals.
'Slightly disappointed'
"Obviously we are slightly disappointed with the Latvia game," Völler said. "But we must put that behind us and start focusing on the match against the Czech Republic. We always knew that the last group game against the Czechs would be a final for us. But we still have every chance of qualifying for the next round."
Width unused
He added: "We did not use the width of the pitch enough yesterday and didn't create enough danger down the wings. And when we did manage to get to the touchline our crosses weren't good enough. We must improve that part of our game."
Low impact
There was another disappointment. "The substitutions I made didn't have the impact on the game that I had hoped for," the coach said. "They all worked hard and if Miroslav Klose had scored in the dying seconds then we wouldn't be having this discussion."
Different game
Völler believes things will be different at Lisbon's Estádio José Alvalade. "The game against the Czech Republic will be completely different from the match against Latvia," Völler said. "With all due respect Latvia were relying on their defence yesterday and it worked well for them. The Czechs will certainly be more willing to push players forward and that kind of game suits us more."
Minor knocks
With the Czechs having won Group D, there may be speculation as to whether they will rest key players. But that does not bother Völler, who hopes to have Bernd Schneider and Dietmar Hamann available after both missed training today with minor knocks.
'Everything to play for'
The coach said: "To be honest I don't really care about the Czech lineup. We must look to our qualities and use them to our advantage. We did not succeed in doing that yesterday. But as I have already said there is everything left to play for."
