New dad Lukas is focused
GERMANY forward Lukas Podolski became a dad for the second time on Monday and his own father recently said if he wins the European Championships he should retire to spend more time with his family.
Podolski said ahead of Germany’s Group C opener against Ukraine: “I haven’t thought about it yet. I’m fully focused on my tasks here and on the games that lie ahead of us.“We are world champions, we have the quality in our team and we want to win.
“If we reach the final, play well but still lose then we can be proud of our performance but if you lose, you lose, and we don’t want that.”
Ukraine assistant coach Andriy Shevchenko believes they are resilient enough to keep Germany at bay.
“In the first game some nervousness might play a part,” he told euro2016.com.
“We understand what we are up against. Maybe we are a bit weaker individually so we have to be better collectively.”
FATIH TERIM is determined to keep his national team at Europe’s top table as Turkey prepare to make their major tournament comeback against old foes Croatia.
He told UEFA.com: “Turkey should qualify for the European Championship and World Cups on a constant basis — for me, that’s more important than the results in any single tournament. Being here is already a success story and when you’re always here, eventually you go further.
“I don’t want to see these tournaments without Turkey. That’s the criteria of success.”
Ante Cacic, the Croatia coach, has similar ambitions for his own side.
“We respect Turkey,” he said. “Making a good start to the season will be important to both sides. Both teams have serious goals. We have a good team and there is a good atmosphere around the camp.”