Matthaus rubbishes German Euro hopes

[Vargas_4]

Former World Cup winning captain Lothar Matthaus has thrown doubt on Germany’s ability to win the 2008 European Championship.

The Germans will go into this summer’s tournament as one of the clear favourites after a very strong qualification campaign. Indeed trainer Joachim Löw recently claimed that his side had to rank among the favourites for the Euro crown.

However, Matthaus doesn’t share this optimism and has played down Germany’s chances of glory.

"To be honest, is the national team really so successful?” he asked.

"To start with, we may have started the European Championships qualifying well, but as far as I know, we only finished second in the end.

"Then you look at the vote for FIFA World Footballer of the Year and see that we had only two Germans among the 30 nominations.

"And we only managed to finish third at a World Cup in our own country, coming behind two other European nations.

"With this in mind, nobody can seriously claim that we are a big favourite for the European Championships" he added.

Matthaus was captain of the side which lifted the 1990 World Cup and was part of the team which won the European Championships in 1980.

The outspoken former Bayern midfielder believes that the current crop of players cannot be compared to the likes of Andreas Brehme, Jurgen Klinsmann and Rudi Voller.

"You have only got to look at the results" the 46 year old added.

"We were the last golden generation in Germany. We won the World Cup and, although the national team today has improved, certain characters are still lacking."

[Vargas_4]

I don't who the hell has been comparing the current German squad with the likes of Brehme, Klinsmann or Voller but you gotta admit that after our horrible Euro '04 we have surely improved.

It is true that we played at home during the WC but hey. Not everything goes as you plan. That's football. And we did lose out to Italy in the last fucking minute so i guess one can just say "tough luck".

He does make a point that we started the Euro campaign really well but ended 2nd, but hey. I ain't complaining. I'm satisfied with the group that we ended up with. It would be wise to first get "warmed up" with countries that we should handle before tackling the big guns. If we had ended up in first place, we would be dealing with Portugal, a country who i prefer to face later on in the competition.

And who GIVES A SHIT for the "FIFA World Footballer of the Year". Really?!! I don't!! But he's bitching that "only two german players" were nominated. It ain't about individuals, you asshole. It's about a team. Argentina, during the Copa America, were filled with stars in every hole. Sure they made it to the final but lost, a competition where they favorites. So, all those awards don't mean shit at the end of the day (sorry if i offend anyone fron Argentina, it wasn't my intention. Just needed them as example to make my point)

And what the hell?! This guy can't think of anything better to do than to say that the German NT doesn't have what it takes to reach Euro glory? Instead of whinning that we are lacking, he should be urging the players to seek improvement in every level before the competition, so that way they would give a better performance. And that's something a german legend as himself should be saying. Not something "oh.... the golden german generation is over".... Please...

[Trim]

S*ck my d*ck Matthaus, you son of a b*tch!

Who the fcuk is he to talk about?

Useless moaning, bla-bla-bla.

He should be ignored from the people!

He shouldn't be hired for any possible coaching job!

[Podolski]

Originally Posted by Vargas_4

Instead of whinning that we are lacking, he should be urging the players to seek improvement in every level before the competition, so that way they would give a better performance. And that's something a german legend as himself should be saying. Not something "oh.... the golden german generation is over".... Please...

I agree.. he could have said something along the lines of 'The national team has improved alot recently but there is room for more in some areas, but since the squad is so young there is alot of time left. I hope we will win euro 2008 but there is strong competition and I think we're not the strongest candidate.

[Trim]

Any criticism towards Germany is irrelevant, no matter who it comes from.

[Stephan]

"Then you look at the vote for FIFA World Footballer of the Year and see that we had only two Germans among the 30 nominations.

So what?! It's about working as a team.

"And we only managed to finish third at a World Cup in our own country, coming behind two other European nations.

Coming in 3rd wasn't so bad. Most people had low hopes for Germany. Most people thought they would only go as far has the quarter finals.
Yeah, we lost in the semi finals against the mafia.....AT THE LAST COUPLE MINS OF EXTRA F**KING TIME! We would've creamed Italy if it came to a Penalty shootout!

"With this in mind, nobody can seriously claim that we are a big favourite for the European Championships"

Actually I hear the exact opposite from lots of people and the media that we are big favourites.

Matthaus is an ignorant fuck, that's all I can say.

[Stephan]

And this Ass wanted to be coach of Bayern Munich... With his outspoken attitude and shitty ass coaching record, that's just scary.

[__-SNAKE-__]

Well you have to be honest, you cant compare his team with todays team. He may have been over critical but he has his good points in my opinion, I cant see Germany winning the Euro this time. but the WC in South Africa is a high possibilty.

__-SNAKE-__