CLASH PUTS SQUAD IN YARM’S WAY
WHEN IT comes to tournament football, no one seems to do it better than Germany.
Seven trophies – four World Cups and three European Championships – have made the Germans undisputed masters of the art.
It has always appeared, from the days of the great Franz Beckenbauer, that the Germans have an in-built system set for tournament finals.
And having won the 2014 World Cup in Brazil two years ago – demolishing the hosts 7-1 in the semi-finals – no one would argue with Joachim Low’s men being installed among the hot favourites for Euro 2016.
Especially as they stand on the brink of making more history alongside France (1998, 2000) and Spain (2010, 2012) as they aim to become only the third country ever to have won back-to-back World Cups and European Championships.
But this time there is doubt inside the Germany camp – usually a haven of self-belief – that they can turn up in France and plot their usual route to glory after a less than impressive last eight months.
Before last night’s 2-0 win over Hungary, Germany had lost four of their last six games – including a short of games – after missing the last two months of Manchester United’s season with a knee injury – Low has a huge job on his hands.
Germany midfielder Khedira, who went off with an ankle knock against Hungary, certainly sees it that way.
Germany may have topped their qualification group but losses to England, Argentina, Poland, USA, THE minimum any coach should hope for, going into a major tournament, is a squad harmony that can make up for any gulf in class.
But Ukraine boss Mykhailo Fomenko (left) cannot even bank on that fundamental pillar after a major bust-up between two of the biggest France and Ireland have overshadowed their 4-1 win over Italy in March.
“To be honest, in our current state we’d have no chance,” Khedira said at the start of 2106 – and things h a v e n’ t improved much.
The Juventus star called the 3-2 cave-in to England “an unnecessary, dumb defeat”.
And he hinted at deeper problems with dressing r oom unity and harmony, bel ieving Germany can only become contenders if they “become a unit on and off the pitch once again.
“Should we achieve that – and I am fully convinced we can – we are hard to beat. Then we are definitely in the race. I am not saying team spirit is decisive, but it’s important that we blend in with each other. But there are other factors to consider too.
“Our performance in recent months were just not good enough. I think everyone’s aware of that.
“We all know that we need to step up to play for the title at the European Championship.” names in his squad. Ukraine duo Andriy Yarmolenko, Dynamo Kiev’s highly talented winger, coveted by more than few Premier League sides, and Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Taras Stepanenko fell out bitterly after a bad tempered League clash between the two clubs last month.
Yarmolenko was sent off for blatantly kicking Stepanenko after the Shakhtar star kissed his badge and celebrated a goal in front of Kiev fans in their 3-0 win.
The game was marred by a mass brawl between both sets of players and Stepanenko said: “I would like the whole country to know my friendship with Yarmolenko has ended.”
That provoked a crisis for Fomenko, who has since named both stars in his squad.
It is believed an uneasy truce has been reached between the pair, with Yarmolenko saying: “I want peace and friendship to prevail inside our team.”
Stepanenko added: “We have discussed this situation and I think the dispute should be considered settled now.”