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“An unbelievable feeling!” Men’s Olympic team through to dream final against Brazil

“Next stop, Rio”: After a tremendous 2-0 semi-final victory over Nigeria the Germany team is now through to the men’s Olympic final in Rio de Janeiro. The victory was sealed through goals from Lukas Klostermann and team joker Nils Petersen, who is now level with Serge Gnabry as the tournament’s leading goal scorer.

Horst Hrubesch’s side have made history by guaranteeing themselves a silver medal in Rio, which trumps the previous best performance by a German Olympic football team when they secured bronze in 1988. Germany will play against host nation Brazil at the Maracana on Saturday (22.30 CEST).

Klostermann: “I can’t put it into words”

Pride, relief and now anticipation. There were plenty of ecstatic albeit exhausted faces following the tough semi-final against Nigeria. “It was a really close match and we had to fight all the way to come out on top,” said Lars Bender. The Bayer 04 Leverkusen midfielder battled for 90 minutes alongside his twin brother Sven in order to keep Nigeria’s captain John Obi Mikel in check. “Credit to the opposition but I think we deserve our place in the final,” explained Bender.

Left back Lukas Klostermann opened the scoring in the ninth minute after an exquisite exchange of passes from Serge Gnabry and Max Meyer in the build-up. It was his first goal in a Germany shirt, including his appearances for Germany youth teams. “It’s just an unbelievable feeling that I can’t put into words,” explained the RB Leipzig defender.

Selke on the final in Brazil: “It will be the game of our lives”

With a medal already guaranteed the national team can now look forward to a very special game at the legendary Maracana stadium in Rio, against the host nation. “It will be the game of our lives,” revealed Leipzig striker David Selke, who set up the second goal in the semi-final. “We have dreamed of this final. Now that we are there, we want to go on and win it.”

Julian Brandt, who has provided the most assists (7) in the Olympics so far, added: “It’s incredible that we’ve already secured a medal, but we are gunning for a gold one, not silver.” World champion Matthias Ginter has even drawn a comparison to the 2014 World Cup win in Brazil. “We have the same team spirit and we fight really hard for each other,” according to the Dortmund centre back.

”One of the best moments of my career” - Hrubesch

The win over Nigeria was an outstanding performance by a team who had little time to prepare, but nevertheless sealed their place in the final through tremendous team-spirit and creative attacking football. “We wanted to win for ourselves above all, but also for the head coach,” explains Brandt. “He eats, sleeps and breaths football and so we want to make his dream of an Olympic medal come true.” Hrubesch was only too happy to return the praise of his players. “The boys have to take all the credit. I can only congratulate them on the performance,” said the 65-year-old. “I’ve experienced so many things in my life, but this is one of the best moments of my career.”

German dominance: The men’s Olympic side will look forward to a meet-up with the women’s side in Rio after they booked their place in the women’s final with a win against Sweden on Tuesday. With two German teams in the Olympic village, and two German teams in the Olympic final, it is a historic first for German football.

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“Next stop, Rio”: After a tremendous 2-0 semi-final victory over Nigeria the Germany team is now through to the men’s Olympic final in Rio de Janeiro. The victory was sealed through goals from Lukas Klostermann and team joker Nils Petersen, who is now level with Serge Gnabry as the tournament’s leading goal scorer.

Horst Hrubesch’s side have made history by guaranteeing themselves a silver medal in Rio, which trumps the previous best performance by a German Olympic football team when they secured bronze in 1988. Germany will play against host nation Brazil at the Maracana on Saturday (22.30 CEST).

Klostermann: “I can’t put it into words”

Pride, relief and now anticipation. There were plenty of ecstatic albeit exhausted faces following the tough semi-final against Nigeria. “It was a really close match and we had to fight all the way to come out on top,” said Lars Bender. The Bayer 04 Leverkusen midfielder battled for 90 minutes alongside his twin brother Sven in order to keep Nigeria’s captain John Obi Mikel in check. “Credit to the opposition but I think we deserve our place in the final,” explained Bender.

Left back Lukas Klostermann opened the scoring in the ninth minute after an exquisite exchange of passes from Serge Gnabry and Max Meyer in the build-up. It was his first goal in a Germany shirt, including his appearances for Germany youth teams. “It’s just an unbelievable feeling that I can’t put into words,” explained the RB Leipzig defender.

Selke on the final in Brazil: “It will be the game of our lives”

With a medal already guaranteed the national team can now look forward to a very special game at the legendary Maracana stadium in Rio, against the host nation. “It will be the game of our lives,” revealed Leipzig striker David Selke, who set up the second goal in the semi-final. “We have dreamed of this final. Now that we are there, we want to go on and win it.”

Julian Brandt, who has provided the most assists (7) in the Olympics so far, added: “It’s incredible that we’ve already secured a medal, but we are gunning for a gold one, not silver.” World champion Matthias Ginter has even drawn a comparison to the 2014 World Cup win in Brazil. “We have the same team spirit and we fight really hard for each other,” according to the Dortmund centre back.

”One of the best moments of my career” - Hrubesch

The win over Nigeria was an outstanding performance by a team who had little time to prepare, but nevertheless sealed their place in the final through tremendous team-spirit and creative attacking football. “We wanted to win for ourselves above all, but also for the head coach,” explains Brandt. “He eats, sleeps and breaths football and so we want to make his dream of an Olympic medal come true.” Hrubesch was only too happy to return the praise of his players. “The boys have to take all the credit. I can only congratulate them on the performance,” said the 65-year-old. “I’ve experienced so many things in my life, but this is one of the best moments of my career.”

German dominance: The men’s Olympic side will look forward to a meet-up with the women’s side in Rio after they booked their place in the women’s final with a win against Sweden on Tuesday. With two German teams in the Olympic village, and two German teams in the Olympic final, it is a historic first for German football.