Dortmund attitude suits Sammer

By Manfred Christoph

BV Borussia Dortmund coach Matthias Sammer was delighted with his side's professional attitude as they swept aside FC Lokomotiv Moskva 3-0 in the Westfalenstadion to maintain their hopes of progressing from UEFA Champions League Group C.

Sammer fearful
Sammer, who watched Torsten Frings, Jan Koller and Marcio Amoroso score the goals which sank the Russian champions, said: "I must admit that I was a little bit worried before the match because Lokomotiv Moscow haven't got the same name as Real Madrid [CF] and I thought the players might underestimate the task.

'Deserved win'
"But Champions League is Champions League and they are a difficult side to play. The team gave the match the concentration needed and deserved to win. I think that we wanted to win more today and were prepared to work harder. I would have been happy with a 1-0 win, but 3-0 speaks for itself and our performance."

Metzelder praised
The Dortmund coach reserved special praise for defender Christoph Metzelder, who was switched from central defence to left-back after Dede picked up an injury early on, and looked very comfortable in his new role. "Christoph is a phenomenon," Sammer continued. "He is still so young and is always outstanding no matter if he plays in the middle, on the left or on the right. He has got a very bright future to look forward to both with us and in the German national team."

'Too hot to handle'
Sammer's opposite number Yuri Semin singled out Dortmund striker Koller as the key player, insisting: "Jan Koller was simply too hot for us to handle. He was all over us in the first match and things didn't improve for us a lot today. We managed to control him slightly before Dortmund got the first goal - but then he took over and was too powerful for us."

Semin unsatisfied
Semin went on to criticise his side's performance in the centre of the field. "Nothing happened in midfield for us today," he continued. "We really missed [the suspended] Dmitri Loskov. We couldn't keep possession and the players didn't show enough movement. I knew it was going to be hard for us with Loskov and Gennadi Nizhegorodov out, but I still expected more."

'We will try'
The Lokomotiv coach also promised his side would do everything possible to help Dortmund's quest of reaching the quarter-finals by getting a result against Madrid next week. He added: "Two very important players will return in the match against Madrid and I can assure you that we will try to win."

Metzelder hopeful
Turning his attentions to Matchday 12, Sammer concluded: "Winning in Milan will be very hard indeed and therefore Madrid still have everything in their own hands." But Metzelder said: "Moscow will surely try to win the match - it is a matter of pride for them. Therefore we still have a chance - but we must win in Milan."