Early tomorrow morning, Beijing time.
European cup (e.g. soccer)
The penultimate battle of the 1/8 finals, the much-anticipated battle between England and Germany will be played. German team manager Loew and captain Neuer arrived at the pre-match press conference to give an outlook on the crucial battle.
Löw gets right to the point: "In the last three years, England's progress has been clear. In the 2018
World Cup
on, they proved themselves to be the best team in the world. They have a lot of
England Premier Soccer League
Players, these players are fast and strong. Any situation can happen when the race is played at this point. The competition is exciting for every player and it is a 0% or 100% competition for the team. We are full of motivation and waiting for a great night."
"I don't know what tactics England will play in detail, but we are now ready for three and four at the back." Löw stated, "They are now playing four at the back and have not conceded a goal. The details of who will start are not yet confirmed, Gossens and Rüdiger have some problems, both are a little tired, we have to wait and see how the situation is tomorrow. We haven't made a final decision yet. We have simulated a penalty shootout. But I think both coaches don't want to play penalties tomorrow in principle, because anything can happen then."
"I've been watching Gnabry for the last two or three days." Löw spoke about the condition of his big man, "It doesn't look like he's lost his pride. He works very hard in practice. I will remind him to play to his strengths." As for the current stage of the championship favorites, Löw did not have a clear statement: "It is difficult to guess the favorites, because the decisive competition has not yet arrived. Italy, Belgium and England are very good before, but this does not mean anything, as you watched the Dutch competition yesterday, the team showed fluctuations is not uncommon. The knockout ground race as a whole is becoming very fast, the space is very serious and everyone wants to be fast and compact."
Will this be his final race? "Today, I was thinking about this thesis for two seconds." Lefebvre stated, "but that's not the way I see the competition. First of all, I'm happy that I'm still the coach for this competition. Secondly, my attention is completely focused on this competition." Löw also talked about the plan to deal with the competition: "Every coach has different ideas. The tactical system is not the decisive element. The coach can always observe different things, because he is the one who knows the team best. The competition is determined by many elements, not just the tactical system."
German captain Neuer said: "All of us are waiting for this game. This is a very special competition for everyone, we are full of motivation, but also waiting to continue to move towards the final. So far, England's performance in the defensive end is very good, but they only scored two goals, so stable defense is very important to us. We need to pick our positions and pay close attention to their attacking players. We scored a lot of goals and tomorrow's game is a test of patience."
"England's free kicks are strong." Neuer also stated, "Regarding the penalty shootout, Koepke has a clear view of England's penalties. This means that we will take the initiative to pounce on the shots of the English shooters. But in a penalty shootout, everything is possible, and many England players will have chosen a different angle to shoot from, and the same intuition is needed when pouncing on penalties."
In the end, Neuer talked about Kane, the leading scorer in the England squad: "In the last few games, Kane has given himself up for the team. It's always a risky sign when the striker is still waiting to score, when he is encouraged to peak. Kane is very risky in the box and picks his spots at set-pieces with precision. We are certainly aware of his strengths."
