After Germany master class, Loew demands improvement
Slovakia call Euro a success despite defeat
LILLE, France, June 27, (RTRS): Germany thundered into the Euro 2016 quarter-finals with a classy 3-0 victory over Slovakia, but coach Joachim Loew said his side still needed to improve if they want to end their 20-year wait for a fourth continental title.
Apart from a missed penalty by Mesut Ozil, Germany totally dominated the game and set up a meeting with either Italy or Spain, who are likely to be tougher opponents.
“It was a good performance, in defence and attack, but I think that with all respect to our opponents, I don’t think we can say we have set a marker with today’s match,” Loew told a news conference.
“We need to be stronger at decisive moments in the match. The first sides we’ve played were not top 10 teams,” he added.
Germany will face tougher opposition, he said, and will need to improve. Loew said he was happy that his side showed a lot of attacking threat, not just relying on striker Mario Gomez.
“I’m happy that the defence worked well, but now we will play against a lot more dangerous sides with top strikers. Now we will face a lot of quality,” he said.
Loew said his team would have to be much more careful in possession and not give any space that better sides would exploit.
“We have to put away our chances. We will get fewer chances, in any case fewer than today or against Northern Ireland,” he said.
Slovakia coach Jan Kozak acknowledged his side had lost to a better team and said Germany could go all the way.
“They just know when to really play well. They have really started their tournament today. Their link-up play was excellent,” he said.
Slovakia midfielder Marek Hamsik said Germany were good enough to win.
“The Germans really dominated the game and played some excellent football . ... They haven’t conceded a goal and they proved their strength. But they will face Italy or Spain and then be put to the test.”
Meanwhile, Slovakia coach Jan Kozak said his side should consider their performance at Euro 2016 a success despite a humbling 3-0 defeat to world champions Germany in the round of 16 on Sunday.
Slovakia qualified third in a group containing England, Russia and Wales, but were totally outclassed by a German side, that could even afford to miss a penalty.
Asked if Slovakia should regard their progression to the last 16 a success, Kozak said yes.
“Any defeat is painful but there should be a good feeling that we got to the last 1ast 16 and played the world champions,” he said, noting that Germany’s last loss had come against Slovakia, a 3-1 defeat in a friendly on May 29.
“We’ve played them twice now. One win and one loss, so that’s okay,” he said.
Kozak said the match had opened his eyes and given him a better insight into his players’ character.
“It’s been very instructive”, he said.
Letting in a first goal inside eight minutes had left his side with too much to do, he added.
“We gave too much space to allow them to link up”, he said. “I think we played with a little bit of fear. They showed so much quality, it was difficult to do anything about it.”
“If you have two or three players not fully concentrating and not following instructions, it makes it very difficult,” he added, without naming anybody. Midfielder Marek Hamsik agreed that Slovakia could have done better, but should be satisfied with what they had achieved.
“We might have done more to attack but we have a strong team and things to build on,” he said. “We need to just cheer up and look to the future.”
That future will start in September when they host England in a World Cup qualifier, in a group also containing Scotland, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta.