“Players don’t win trophies, teams do”

The German Under-21 national team start their preparation and final run-up to the upcoming European Championships in Sweden on Thursday. Horst Hrubesch’s team meet Spain in their first tournament game on Monday (8.45 P.M., ZDF). The second group-stage-match is against Finland on 18 June in Halmstad (5.50 P.M., ZDF). The last opponent in this group is England (8.15 P.M., ZDF) on 22 June.

The team’s accommodated in the hotel “Nääs Fabriker” in Lerum. In an exclusive DFB.de-interview, DFB-editor Maximilian Geis speaks with the coach Horst Hrubesch about the preparation for the UEFA Under 21-Championship, his nominations and the chances for the DFB-team.

Question: Horst Hrubesch, following training camps at Tegernsee and in Barsinghausen, you have wrapped-up the preparational phase. Where’s the team at, right now?

Horst Hrubesch: We’re all right. Because of the A-team’s trip to Asia and the games in the DFB Pokal, Manuel Neuer (Schalke 04), Sebastian Boenisch (Werder Bremen), Gonzalo Castro (Bayer Leverkusen) and Mesut Özil (Werder Bremen) couldn’t join us. Last week we focused on the tactical skills of the team, now I’m satisfied. We have no chipped nor injured players. Now we can shift our attention to some final finetuning.

Question: Some players that you had nominated for the qualification games did not make the championship-roster. How did you make your choices?

Hrubesch: What counts is the ability of the player on the field, and secondly, of course the overall team chemistry. We play a system where the wing positions are quite important. That’s why I nominated players such as Änis Ben-Hatira, Chinedu Ede or Fabian Johnson. I’m sure that they will do their homework and come out ready to play. Question: Surprisingly, you did not nominate such well-known young talents as Alexander Baumjohann and Toni Kroos…

Hrubesch: We have an enormous quality in that part of the team and we simply had to make a decision. I’m convinced that Daniel Adlung (VfL Wolfsburg), Dennis Aogo, Jerome Boateng (both Hamburger SV), Gonzalo Castro and Sami Khedira (VfB Stuttgart) will do a good job. But that is no decision against the boys who have to stay at home. He didn’t have much playing time in Leverkusen, which triggered our decision to integrate him in our Under-19 team – that’s a team he knows so well from the 2007 Under 17-Championship in South Korea. Alexander Baumjohann is in a competition with Mesut Özil and Marko Marin, who have become regulars on the U-21 or the national team.

Question:At the beginning of the year, you had talked about shortcomings on your attack. Has the situation changed in any way?

Hrubesch: No, we still miss a top scorer! But we have a variety of players for that position. Sandro Wagner can do his job in the central front. Ashkan Dejagah and Chinedu Ede are dangerous scorers. As well as Marko Marin and Mesut Özil, who create a lot of turmoil up front. We have the ability to score goals – regardless of the opponent.

Question: Five of your players have been part of the national team. How do you evaluate the teams’ potential?

Hrubesch: We have outstanding individualists on the team. But players don’t win trophies, teams do. The boys have to form a unit on the pitch. We have boosted this process with teambuilding measures and individual talks. Now it is time for the players to take responsibility and show their leadership qualities. The team has promised me that they will put up a fight for the title. Hopefully everybody on the team is willing to give it an all-out effort. We will know a lot more following the game against Spain.

Question: How do you asses the Spaniards?

Hrubesch: Spain is a great football nation with many individualists, they are dominating the European development of young talents. Three years ago, our U 19 team played them. Of course, we have kept an eye on them ever since. They are very strong offensively and well-organized. Bojan Krkic is their oustanding talent. They certainly belong to the circle of favorites in the tournament. But first, they have to beat us. We respect them, but we’re not scared.

Question: What do you expect of the other group opponents?

Hrubesch: The Fins played convingly in the qualification against Denmark and Austria. We shouldn’t underestimate them. England comes with a typical British team, and they will play a major part at this championship. To put it bluntly: If you manage to qualify, you have to have a great team.

Question: You’ve aimed very high when you spoke about winning the tournament. Why such an optimism?

Hrubesch: Well, all you can say is that the stage is set. Obviously, winning the opener against Spain would be a tremendous relief, things would suddenly be so much easier.

Question: Do you feel increased pressure because two German teams, the U 17 and the U 19, recently won European championships?

Hrubesch: Our players are familiar with this situation. Thousands of fans watch them every week in the Bundesliga or in the Champions League. Our goal is clearly defined: We want to reach the level of the world’s elite teams. The championships won by our U 17 and U 19 were important steps on that road to success. But let’s not lose aim at our main goal, which is to help our national team win a major tournament, the World Cup or the European Championships. But if we win the trophy with our Under 21, that would certainly be another milestone.