Goal scored, game won, clean sheet. Shkodran Mustafi had every reason to be delighted after the 2-0 victory over Ukraine in Lille. There were many positives to be taken from Germany’s EURO 2016 opener but also some negative aspects. The central defender spoke about both after the game.
Question: Mr Mustafi, 2-0 opening win. How important is this start at the European Championship?
Shkodran Mustafi: The first game is always somewhat crucial. We won and we kept a clean sheet - that’s important for the team.
Question: And your goal?
Mustafi: I’m more pleased about the result than my goal. Above all, I’m happy that I fulfilled my defensive duties. That’s also one of the reasons why the manager put his faith in me. I’m obviously pleased that I could help the team by chipping in with a goal but first and foremost, it’s about doing my job. I want to pay back the faith that the manager and team have shown in me.
Question: What did you say to Bastian Schweinsteiger? He came on and almost immediately grabbed the second goal to settle the game.
Mustafi: I’d also like to experience something like that. (laughs) But: "come on, score a goal," it sounds so simple. But it isn’t. There’s a lot more to it, including lots of will power. I’m absolutely thrilled for him to make such an impressive return after injury.
Question: The defence didn’t always coordinate successfully in the first half. Do you already have approaches for how this can work better in the game against Poland?
Goal scored, game won, clean sheet. Shkodran Mustafi had every reason to be delighted after the 2-0 victory over Ukraine in Lille. There were many positives to be taken from Germany’s EURO 2016 opener but also some negative aspects. The central defender spoke about both after the game.
Question: Mr Mustafi, 2-0 opening win. How important is this start at the European Championship?
Shkodran Mustafi: The first game is always somewhat crucial. We won and we kept a clean sheet - that’s important for the team.
Question: And your goal?
Mustafi: I’m more pleased about the result than my goal. Above all, I’m happy that I fulfilled my defensive duties. That’s also one of the reasons why the manager put his faith in me. I’m obviously pleased that I could help the team by chipping in with a goal but first and foremost, it’s about doing my job. I want to pay back the faith that the manager and team have shown in me.
Question: What did you say to Bastian Schweinsteiger? He came on and almost immediately grabbed the second goal to settle the game.
Mustafi: I’d also like to experience something like that. (laughs) But: "come on, score a goal," it sounds so simple. But it isn’t. There’s a lot more to it, including lots of will power. I’m absolutely thrilled for him to make such an impressive return after injury.
Question: The defence didn’t always coordinate successfully in the first half. Do you already have approaches for how this can work better in the game against Poland?
Mustafi: It was simply a very open game in parts and switched from one penalty area to another - and that’s not how we want to play. It’s then difficult to say whether our organisation in a particular aspect has worked or not. It’s not easy to anaylse the mistakes directly after the game. We’ll now do this subsequently using video analysis. But we have to be honest: in the first half, we allowed them one or two chances.
Question: Ukraine regularly looked dangerous from set pieces.
Mustafi: Yes, there’s two sides to that. If you allow the opposition lots of chances from open play, that means you’ve played badly. If you only allow the opposition chances from set pieces, it means that dead ball situations weren’t defended well. That’s bad but still better than permitting the opposition to create lots of chances from open play. We won 2-0 and therefore I’m pleased. That counts. I will enjoy the moment because in the tournament everything passes by unbelievably quickly.
Question: Your partner in central defence, Jérôme Boateng, won 93 percent on his challenges. How good is it to play alongside him?
Mustafi: Jérôme is a leader, he’s a role model, he does his job really well. That makes things easier for me because I can just concentrate on my job with him by my side.
Question: What do you think your role and prospects will be in the course of the tournament?
Mustafi: I am here to help the team. I’m delighted that the manager trusted me to play in such an important game. However, I know that the quality in the team is really high and anyone could be selected. There are 23 players in the squad and only eleven places so the manager must leave twelve on the bench. But we all know that all substitutes are ready and raring to go. All that matters is the success of the team.
