‘WE TAKE IT MATCH BY MATCH’
“Before the start of the tournament, we are not thinking about who’d be our opponents in which round. It has never been a part of German thought process,” says
Ten goals in his first two World Cups! Thomas Muller was all set to go for the highest scorer’s award, beating his compatriot Miroslav Klose (16) in Russia. But his team had a forgettable tournament. Germany has regrouped under new coach Hansi Flick and is one of the favourites to win at Qatar. ⬤ You need seven goals to be the highest scorer in World Cups. Does that motivate you more?
No, we don’t think about personal goals. Our aim is to win the championship always and we all try our best to ensure a victory for the team. If we can do so, we shall be the happiest. In doing so, if I can contribute with a few goals, I shall be happy. But even if I don’t score a single goal and our team wins the competition, I shall be happier.
⬤ That has always been the Die Mannschaft philosophy…
We feel that should be ideal since we play a team sport, not an individual one. When the team achieves success, it’s all ours. We celebrate wholeheartedly. We follow the same at Bayern Munich. Not only Bayern, all the clubs grow with the same philosophy of putting the team ahead of any personal goal. That is why team Germany has always been the star rather than an individual superstar.
⬤ But what went wrong in Russia? You were the defending champions, but failed to reach the knockout stage…
It happens sometimes. You cannot win always. There will be some bad days in office. For us, it was two out of three days. Nobody could even imagine that we would be out of the Cup within the first two weeks. It was shocking for all of us. We prepared so well, but could not do what we wanted to do. A big lesson for all of us. We have to ensure that such things should never happen again.
⬤ Even in EURO 2020, Germany was not at its best, losing 0-2 to England in the Round of 16…
We have to accept the fact that we failed miserably again. These are things the German football team is not familiar with. Football world does believe that the Germans always excel in big tournaments. But we failed in two consecutive competitions which is rare. However, we have prepared well for Qatar and are hopeful that things will be different this time.
⬤ Joachim Low had to go and Hansi Flick took over. How did it change the atmosphere inside the dressing room?
Not a big thing except the fact that we have a new manager. He was at Bayern Munich. So, for us, the Bayern footballers in the national camp, it was easier. We knew how he worked. For the others, too, it was quite okay since almost all the German coaches love to play aggressively. Joachim had been an integral part of the German football team for four editions and did a great job. Now it’s Hansi’s turn to do the same.
⬤ You have Spain in your group which will be the match to decide the group leaders.
We have faced them when they were winning everything. Then we changed the trend in Brazil. Spain, too, did not have a great run in the last two editions.
They will be eager to return to their dominating best while we shall be trying the same. It should be one of the most exciting matches of the World Cup. We are all looking forward to it.
⬤ If everything goes well, there can be another Germany vs Brazil or Argentina in the semifinal. Have you thought about it?
Not really. We take it match by match. First the group stage, we need to proceed. That’s the priority. Then only we’ll get our next opponent and think about them. Before the start of the tournament, we are not thinking about who’d be our opponents in which round. It has never been a part of German thought process.