It’s almost time. The Germany Olympic team will face Mexico, the Olympic gold medallists at London 2012, in their first group match of the Olympic football tournament at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador on Thursday (22:00 CEST, 17:00 local time) following a week of preparation. DFB head coach Horst Hrubesch has prepared thoroughly and will want to progress as the winners of group C and make it to the semi-finals at the Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro.
There is a long way to go until then though and the team will need to bring their best. A player who will be looking to set the example is the Olympic and current U21 captain Leon Goretzka from FC Schalke 04. In an interview with DFB.de, the 21-year-old spoke about the teams first days in Salvador, the upcoming match against Mexico, the German’s strengths and their aims for Rio 2016.
DFB.de: Mr Goretzka, your team has been in the country preparing for the start of the Olympic football tournament for almost four days. How has you found the training facilities?
Leon
Goretzka: We have had great conditions for training from the very start here. We are able to work hard both on the training ground and in the hotel to prepare for the upcoming tasks. We obviously had a long and difficult trip from Frankfurt to Rio then on to Salvador. We could feel the jet lag and the weather in our bones to begin with but we’re now used to it.
DFB.de: You have had about a week to prepare for the tournament if you include the three days in Frankfurt. Is a week long enough to prepare a newly formed team for such a competition?
Goretzka: In short – yes it is. Most of the players here were already players in the U21s or are former members of the U21 squad. Clearly there are a couple of players who haven’t yet played in the team but no one is a total stranger. We also all know the system that we look to implement in the national teams, so there isn’t any problems. Take the two Benders (Lars and Sven) who have come in as older players. You can already say from the training sessions we have had that the combination play and movement in the middle of the pitch is of a high quality.
DFB.de: Other than the sporting components: how do the different characters in the team work? Is there already a hierarchy?
Goretzka: Hierarchies a formed almost automatically in football teams. There are always three or four players who come to the fore and take on responsibility. Myself as captain, the two Benders, Niklas Süle in defence and Timo Horn in goal have done that here. We will need every single player to step up in the tournament though as every individual is important to the team. Because of this we are working hard in training. When it comes to the team dynamic we are all getting on very well. We all know what our aim is.
DFB.de: The coach has stated that his aim coming into his final tournament is to win a medal. How would you describe your relationship and work with Horst Hrubesch?
Goretzka: We have a great relationship with the coach. We know exactly what he expects from us – to do everything to succeed. On the other hand, he also knows what makes the players tick and is always ready to offer his help. I have a close connection to Horst Hrubesch as the captain. We speak a lot with each other and despite the age gap he has always managed to stay on the same wavelength as the young players. I’ve heard the same thing from other players such as Benedikt Höwedes, who worked with him earlier on.
It’s almost time. The Germany Olympic team will face Mexico, the Olympic gold medallists at London 2012, in their first group match of the Olympic football tournament at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador on Thursday (22:00 CEST, 17:00 local time) following a week of preparation. DFB head coach Horst Hrubesch has prepared thoroughly and will want to progress as the winners of group C and make it to the semi-finals at the Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro.
There is a long way to go until then though and the team will need to bring their best. A player who will be looking to set the example is the Olympic and current U21 captain Leon Goretzka from FC Schalke 04. In an interview with DFB.de, the 21-year-old spoke about the teams first days in Salvador, the upcoming match against Mexico, the German’s strengths and their aims for Rio 2016.
DFB.de: Mr Goretzka, your team has been in the country preparing for the start of the Olympic football tournament for almost four days. How has you found the training facilities?
Leon
Goretzka: We have had great conditions for training from the very start here. We are able to work hard both on the training ground and in the hotel to prepare for the upcoming tasks. We obviously had a long and difficult trip from Frankfurt to Rio then on to Salvador. We could feel the jet lag and the weather in our bones to begin with but we’re now used to it.
DFB.de: You have had about a week to prepare for the tournament if you include the three days in Frankfurt. Is a week long enough to prepare a newly formed team for such a competition?
Goretzka: In short – yes it is. Most of the players here were already players in the U21s or are former members of the U21 squad. Clearly there are a couple of players who haven’t yet played in the team but no one is a total stranger. We also all know the system that we look to implement in the national teams, so there isn’t any problems. Take the two Benders (Lars and Sven) who have come in as older players. You can already say from the training sessions we have had that the combination play and movement in the middle of the pitch is of a high quality.
DFB.de: Other than the sporting components: how do the different characters in the team work? Is there already a hierarchy?
Goretzka: Hierarchies a formed almost automatically in football teams. There are always three or four players who come to the fore and take on responsibility. Myself as captain, the two Benders, Niklas Süle in defence and Timo Horn in goal have done that here. We will need every single player to step up in the tournament though as every individual is important to the team. Because of this we are working hard in training. When it comes to the team dynamic we are all getting on very well. We all know what our aim is.
DFB.de: The coach has stated that his aim coming into his final tournament is to win a medal. How would you describe your relationship and work with Horst Hrubesch?
Goretzka: We have a great relationship with the coach. We know exactly what he expects from us – to do everything to succeed. On the other hand, he also knows what makes the players tick and is always ready to offer his help. I have a close connection to Horst Hrubesch as the captain. We speak a lot with each other and despite the age gap he has always managed to stay on the same wavelength as the young players. I’ve heard the same thing from other players such as Benedikt Höwedes, who worked with him earlier on.
###more###
DFB.de: Mexico will be your first opponents. What sort of team are you expecting them to be?
Goretzka: We’ll be facing a strong opponent straight away but there are supposed to be no particularly weak teams at the Olympics. The Mexico team play dangerous football and try to get under your skin, we will have to make sure we don’t let it get to us. They are also more used to the climate in which we will be playing. We will have to make sure we know our own quality. That means that we always go in as favourites as a Germany national team. It is a title that we we’ll happily take. If we manage to implement our game and dominate our opponents, any opposition will find it difficult against us. It will be about playing to our strengths in every game and putting in a focused performance. The climate will take its toll but we are all fit enough to deal with it.
DFB.de What qualities will you be demanding from your team especially?
Goretzka: There are many. We have a lot of individual quality and will be at an advantage against many other teams. Furthermore, we can turn up the tempo and have pace in our team. When we win the ball and use the space given to us we can move purposefully towards the opposition goal. We also have a lot of quality defensively and are able to keep the other team away from our goal when we are compact. We will have to make sure we show all of these qualities that we have mentioned on the pitch to be successful at the Olympics.
DFB.de: Was it actually determined that you would captain the Olympic team with already being the U21 captain?
Goretzka: It definitely wasn’t a sure thing. I had hoped that I would be allowed to take on the responsibility though. To be the captain of the U21 team was already something special. To now be able to lead my country at the Olympic Games, the world’s biggest sporting event, is a massive honour. I have always been happy to take on responsibility and I am now looking forward to the start of the tournament.
DFB.de: What exactly are you looking forward to most at the Olympic Games?
Goretzka: I am mostly excited about the unique atmosphere that you here about, with having all of the world’s top athletes in one place. We will have to make it to the Olympic Village to really experience it and that is our aim. We want to have a successful tournament and hope that our anticipation and enthusiasm rubs off on the spectators and fans. Football is definitely not the biggest sport when you think about the Olympics but we want to change that through our performances and get the people in Brazil and at home behind us.
###more###
