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Sleepless Night For Mertesacker Despite Clean Sheet

Germany defender Per Mertesacker revealed that he endured a restless night sleep, despite shutting out Poland in their Group B clash last night.

Joachim Low’s side did not return to their southern Switzerland base until the early hours of Monday morning, meaning Mertesacker was right in time to catch the replays of his side’s 2-0 victory.

He said: "Between two and four in the morning, the Swiss and Austrian television channels make it easy for you to watch the game all over again and be self-critical. After such a game, it is quite hard to actually get to sleep."

On reflection, the Werder Bremen stopper admitted that he was relatively satisfied with the German display, but insisted that there was still room for improvement.

"There is still a little bit lacking," said the 23-year-old. "We still have to improve a little, but overall we have dealt with the first game quite well.

"We wanted to be in top condition for Sunday and I think we showed that we are that.

"Keeping a clean sheet is proof that we worked well together at the back."

MODEST PODOLSKI

Mertesacker’s goalscoring team mate Lukas Podolski was equally pleased with his side’s showing but played down his own considerable contributions.

He told the official DFB website: "The important thing is that we have reached our aim as a team, today it was him, and tomorrow somebody else, but the decisive thing is that we are one team and that we win in the end.

"The big aim we have at the moment is to win the European Championships and all personal best marks are not so important."

Contrary to Mertesacker’s sleepless claims, Podolski admitted that he had no trouble bedding down in the wake of his two-goal salvo.

The 23-year-old continued: You are quite a bit excited and agitated after a game like that, but this time I fell asleep quite easily and woke up in a very good mood this morning."

With limited rest after the victory, Joachim Low allowed his side the morning off as he sets about plotting the downfall of Slaven Bilic’s Croatia on Thursday.

Goal.com - Euro 2008 - Sleepless Night For Mertesacker Despite Clean Sheet