Three days before Germany’s vital European Championship qualifier against Poland at 20:45 CEST in Frankfurt, captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, assistant manager Thomas Schneider and goalkeeper coach Andreas Köpke answered journalists’ questions at a press conference at the Commerzbank Arena.
Bastian Schweinsteiger on...
...the objectives ahead of the matches against Poland and Scotland: Obviously we want to win playing our own game, as we have shown in the past. It will be difficult; they are definitely two challenging fixtures for us. We will give our all.
...there will need to be improvements from the last game: Poland were very aggressive and were desperate to win when we last played them. We controlled the game well, but not for 90 minutes. We need to play well in both halves and we especially need to be better in defence and to create more chances to score goals.
... Poland’s development: Poland have always been very good. They have shown their quality already in the group stages.
... his position in the national team: I always want to play as much as possible for the national team. It’s a wonderful feeling to pull on that shirt. You have to push forward in every game; that requires a lot of energy!
... his feelings travelling to Frankfurt: It’s a bit different to travelling from Munich, but the flight was very pleasant. I am happy to be here, we have two very important games ahead of us. The home match against Poland alone is going to be tough; we will need to go all-out against them. We need to points and a good result, we need to concentrate.
... his impressions in England: Obviously it’s a new environment, but I must say that I am really enjoying it. It’s an incredible feeling to play for the club. The people are very friendly and respectful.
Thomas Schneider on...
... the current situation in the team: The team spent a lot of time engaged with marketing activities yesterday. Today was the first time they trained as a group in the gym. This afternoon they will be out on the pitch, but the whole squad won’t train together. The Dortmund players and Bastian Schweinsteiger, who played on Sunday for example, will have the afternoon off and join in tomorrow morning.
Three days before Germany’s vital European Championship qualifier against Poland at 20:45 CEST in Frankfurt, captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, assistant manager Thomas Schneider and goalkeeper coach Andreas Köpke answered journalists’ questions at a press conference at the Commerzbank Arena.
Bastian Schweinsteiger on...
...the objectives ahead of the matches against Poland and Scotland: Obviously we want to win playing our own game, as we have shown in the past. It will be difficult; they are definitely two challenging fixtures for us. We will give our all.
...there will need to be improvements from the last game: Poland were very aggressive and were desperate to win when we last played them. We controlled the game well, but not for 90 minutes. We need to play well in both halves and we especially need to be better in defence and to create more chances to score goals.
... Poland’s development: Poland have always been very good. They have shown their quality already in the group stages.
... his position in the national team: I always want to play as much as possible for the national team. It’s a wonderful feeling to pull on that shirt. You have to push forward in every game; that requires a lot of energy!
... his feelings travelling to Frankfurt: It’s a bit different to travelling from Munich, but the flight was very pleasant. I am happy to be here, we have two very important games ahead of us. The home match against Poland alone is going to be tough; we will need to go all-out against them. We need to points and a good result, we need to concentrate.
... his impressions in England: Obviously it’s a new environment, but I must say that I am really enjoying it. It’s an incredible feeling to play for the club. The people are very friendly and respectful.
Thomas Schneider on...
... the current situation in the team: The team spent a lot of time engaged with marketing activities yesterday. Today was the first time they trained as a group in the gym. This afternoon they will be out on the pitch, but the whole squad won’t train together. The Dortmund players and Bastian Schweinsteiger, who played on Sunday for example, will have the afternoon off and join in tomorrow morning.
...Mesut Özil‘s fitness: Mesut has a slight knee problem, there’s some inflammation around his patella. He won’t train today, but he will receive treatment. Tomorrow he will work with the fitness coach and then we will assess him. But we are confident that he will be ready by Friday.
Andreas Köpke on..
... the goalkeeper situation: We are all happy to be playing again. We need to set things straight in the group, starting on Friday against Poland. We’re finally at the situation where we want to start integrating our younger goalkeepers. In the next few months we will start bringing one or two in to assess them and make a decision on who we will take to the finals. We have four keepers playing in the Champions League; that can only be good for the national team.
...Roman Weidenfeller: I met with him last week and told him that we want to see the younger players. That wasn’t a problem for him, as we are always very open about these things.
