The Germany U21s suffered a heavy defeat on Friday night – their first during the ongoing qualification campaign for the U21 EUROs – losing 4-0 to Poland. In an interview with DFB.de, centre-back Lars Lukas Mai spoke about the lessons learned from the match and looks ahead to the upcoming game against San Marino U21s on Tuesday (18:15 CET).
DFB.de: Mr. Mai, how do you feel after the 4-0 loss to Poland?
Lars Lukas Mai: Personally, I always need a day in order to process a defeat. In this case, I really needed it. But, now I’m focused on what’s next. We are still in control of our own fate in qualifying and I’m certain that we will be successful in our upcoming games.
DFB.de: What went wrong in the opening moments of the game? Have you already analysed it?
Mai: We weren’t aggressive enough, made too many individual mistakes and lacked precision. Regardless of whether it was in key tackles or the final touch up front, we just weren’t focused enough. Poland were more aggressive and alert, and we deservedly lost.
DFB.de: What was the mood like in the dressing room at half time?
Mai: Everyone was frustrated. We couldn’t explain what had just happened during the first 45 minutes. But, we promised ourselves that we wouldn’t give up. .
DFB.de: The team looked like they improved from that point on.
Mai: We created several chances for ourselves, despite being a man down. If we had made the most of them, then the game could have been a bit more evenly-matched. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.
DFB.de: What lessons can the team draw from the defeat?
Mai: You’re able to learn from your mistakes. The game showed us where we still need to improve. As a team and as individual players, we were all able to draw lessons from that game. We want to be better against San Marino and show that we’ve learned from our mistakes.
DFB.de: What will need to happen in order for that frustration to turn into motivation?
Mai: Analysing it was important, but now we need to forget about the defeat. We want to get back to having fun while we play. We will now use our remaining training sessions in order to prepare for the game against San Marino. I’m confident that we will deliver a different performance on Tuesday and that we will be successful.
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The Germany U21s suffered a heavy defeat on Friday night – their first during the ongoing qualification campaign for the U21 EUROs – losing 4-0 to Poland. In an interview with DFB.de, centre-back Lars Lukas Mai spoke about the lessons learned from the match and looks ahead to the upcoming game against San Marino U21s on Tuesday (18:15 CET).
DFB.de: Mr. Mai, how do you feel after the 4-0 loss to Poland?
Lars Lukas Mai: Personally, I always need a day in order to process a defeat. In this case, I really needed it. But, now I’m focused on what’s next. We are still in control of our own fate in qualifying and I’m certain that we will be successful in our upcoming games.
DFB.de: What went wrong in the opening moments of the game? Have you already analysed it?
Mai: We weren’t aggressive enough, made too many individual mistakes and lacked precision. Regardless of whether it was in key tackles or the final touch up front, we just weren’t focused enough. Poland were more aggressive and alert, and we deservedly lost.
DFB.de: What was the mood like in the dressing room at half time?
Mai: Everyone was frustrated. We couldn’t explain what had just happened during the first 45 minutes. But, we promised ourselves that we wouldn’t give up. .
DFB.de: The team looked like they improved from that point on.
Mai: We created several chances for ourselves, despite being a man down. If we had made the most of them, then the game could have been a bit more evenly-matched. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.
DFB.de: What lessons can the team draw from the defeat?
Mai: You’re able to learn from your mistakes. The game showed us where we still need to improve. As a team and as individual players, we were all able to draw lessons from that game. We want to be better against San Marino and show that we’ve learned from our mistakes.
DFB.de: What will need to happen in order for that frustration to turn into motivation?
Mai: Analysing it was important, but now we need to forget about the defeat. We want to get back to having fun while we play. We will now use our remaining training sessions in order to prepare for the game against San Marino. I’m confident that we will deliver a different performance on Tuesday and that we will be successful.
