GERMANY’S ‘POSITIVE TENSION’

GERMANY are feeling no pressure as the reigning world champions going into their World Cup Group F opener against Mexico today and cannot wait to extend their record of opening game victories under coach Joachim Loew, he said yesterday.

The Germans, World Cup winners in 2014, kick off their title defence at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium and Loew said his players had nothing else on their mind other than winning their opener.

“The (2014) title plays no role. The tension we have is a positive tension and you can feel it rising. What you won in the past does not matter,” he said.

“Before the first match everyone has this positive tension. You want it to start, to prove yourself, to take a good step in this tournament and it does not matter what you have won or not.”

Loew has been in charge since 2006 and his team has won every tournament opener at Euros and World Cups under him, a run they want to extend against Mexico.

He said that setbacks during their preparation for Russia, such as a loss to Austria and a scrappy win against Saudi Arabia in their final warmup games, never shifted the team’s focus. “It is correct that we have won a lot of opening matches. We accept that in our preparation things may have gone wrong at some point. But what we’re focusing on now is the first tournament game.

“It has to do with the self confidence of the players. I hope we can now succeed against very tough opponents who play well in almost every aspect of their game.”

The Germans have won all three tournament encounters against the Mexicans, including their 4-1 demolition at last year’s Confederations Cup. German FA records state that in 11 matches Mexico have managed just one victory.

But midfielder Julian Draxler, who captained a largely secondstring Germany to the Confederations Cup title, warned that today’s encounter would be a completely different affair. “Our team has changed a lot from the Confederations Cup,” he said.

“We should not read too much into that win last year. It will be a different game. Mexico are collectively strong, and can put opponents under pressure.”

Germany also play South Korea and Sweden in their group.

Meanwhile, Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil has fully recovered from a minor knee injury in their penultimate warm-up match and is fit to play today.

Ozil picked up a knock in the 2-1 loss to Austria on June 2 and had to miss their last friendly against Saudi Arabia six days later.

The 2014 World Cup winner, who has played in every single match Germany have contested in their last two World Cups, had also suffered a back injury in May that had kept him out for weeks, putting his fitness for Russia in doubt.

“All players are fit. Mesut Ozil this week completed two additional training sessions and can play,” Loew said. “But I will discuss the final line-up this evening,” he said yesterday, “There are two, three ideas in my head for the line-up.”

Apart from his injuries, Ozil also had to deal with a massive fallout from photos taken with him and Germany team-mate Ilkay Gundogan with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last month.

The two players of Turkish descent were jeered by German fans in their final warm-up games as the affair overshadowed their run-up to the tournament, with many supporters calling for the pair to be thrown out of the team.

German lawmakers across the political spectrum and the country’s football federation argued that Erdogan does not sufficiently respect German values.

“A lot has been written about Mesut (and his mood),” Draxler said. “But that is not all true. He is in good spirits, makes jokes. The mood is good and he cannot wait for the tournament to start.”

Questions regarding Ozil’s mood are nothing new with the player often criticised for his body language during matches. – Reuters SOCHI, Russia: Spain defender Gerard Pique accused Cristiano Ronaldo of diving to win a penalty and a crucial free-kick in Friday’s epic 3-3 draw with Portugal and praised his side for battling back after a chaotic week in which coach Julen Lopetegui was sacked.

Ronaldo struck the first goal of his memorable hat-trick to put Portugal ahead in the fourth minute after going down in the area from a challenge from Nacho. He later converted an exquisite late free-kick to level the thrilling encounter after winning a foul following a tussle with Barcelona’s Pique.

“Cristiano is very prone to diving and they award him almost every foul,” Pique told reporters after the extraordinary spectacle in Sochi between the two heavyweights which set the World Cup alight.

“We picked ourselves up again after a lot of problems because starting a World Cup by conceding a penalty in

REPINO: England manager Gareth Southgate has told his players the starting line-up for tomorrow’s World Cup Group G opener against Tunisia and is hoping to keep it secret until shortly before kick-off. Southgate confirmed to ITV yesterday that the players now knew who would start and who would be on the bench for the game in Volgograd. Yesterday’s training session was kept behind closed doors as the players worked on specific tactical

the second minute and going behind is difficult but we scored three goals and we have to be happy with how the game went.” Spain’s ability to come back in the game after Ronaldo’s first two goals was all the more impressive given the turmoil that had gripped the team after Lopetegui was sacked on Wednesday for negotiating a move to Real Madrid behind the back of Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales.

Pique, who is famous for his open disliking for Barca’s arch-rivals Madrid, said now was not the time to analyse whether it was right or wrong to dismiss Lopetegui but hinted he disagreed with his former coach’s methods in the negotiations.

“We all have to pull together now, it’s a situation that no-one has enjoyed but the World Cup has started, and when it’s over that’s when we can tell the story, we need to speak as little as possible and focus on football,” Pique said. “The fact he negotiated with Madrid doesn’t bother me, a huge club came for him, the way he did it is up for debate. There are thousands of opinions, the president didn’t like it and took his decision and the players have accepted it.”

Spain striker Diego Costa produced an explosive performance and pledged to “keep working and keep on shutting people up” after his two goals answered critics who believe he does not fit into the team’s style of play.

The Atletico Madrid forward also declared his admiration for Ronaldo after the Portuguese upstaged his two goals with his whirlwind hat-trick.

“There will always be a debate, that’s good as it means there is competition in the team,” Costa said.

“I have to congratulate Cristiano, they criticise him and just look at what he does.

“People would be better off leaving him alone. I wish I was like him.” – Reuters

Young is expected to get the nod at left back ahead of Danny Rose with Kieran Trippier on the opposite flank. Leicester City’s Harry Maguire could start on the left of a trio of central defenders with John Stones in the middle and Kyle Walker on the right. Jordan Henderson of Liverpool is believed to be the holding midfielder with Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli in more advanced roles. Everton’s Jordan Pickford should keep goal. – Reuters