SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - WORLD CUP 2010 - Germany confident in their new team

Record ID: 453281

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - WORLD CUP 2010 - Germany confident in their new team
  • Date: 9th June 2010
  • Summary: PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (JUNE 8, 2010) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF THE GERMAN TEAM BASE GERMAN FLAG BLOWING IN THE WIND SIGN READING "VELMORE WELCOMES THE GERMAN TEAM" PHILIPP LAHM PLAYING BASEBALL IN THE HOTEL GARDEN ARNE FRIEDRICH AND PER MERTESACKER IN THE NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM WITH PHOTOGRAPHERS VARIOUS OF FRIEDRICH AND MERTESACKER AT THE NEWS CONFERENCE EMBLEM "GERMAN FOOTBALL FEDERATION" (SOUNDBITE) (German) ARNE FRIEDRICH SAYING: "There is always competition (between the players) and I think that we have a very balanced team. With the loss of Michael Ballack there are now other players who really want to play and who have the talent to play. In general I think it's hard for other teams to work us out than it was before. I haven't heard Jens Lehmann said that our team has less structure, but that can also be an advantage, and we will use that to our advantage." VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (German) ARNE FRIEDRICH TALKING ABOUT VUVUZELAS, SAYING: "Every nation has their particularities which they do. I personally don't like it that much, I will have to get used to it, it's loud and strange. But I think the longer we were here the less we will notice it and it won't be a problem." JOURNALISTS PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) PER MERTESACKER SAYING: "We are concentrating mainly on our first match. We know that a lot of things can happen in our first three games. We want to get a certain number of points as fast as possible and therefore it would be bad if we lose the match against Australia." JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (German) PER MERTESACKER SAYING: "We need to get used to the climate conditions here. We felt that yesterday during the training session. We have gotten over the flight, there will be some nice training sessions for us the next days, and the tension is growing before our first match." CAMERAMAN NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 24th June 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA39VM5NIN9TXOU7NIAN68UYFS8
  • Story Text: Arne Friedrich will partner Per Mertesacker in Germany's central defence when they kick off their World Cup campaign against Australia on Sunday, the defender said on Tuesday.
    After a bad season that saw his Hertha Berlin team relegated, Friedrich, who in the past has played as right back, did not believe he would make it to the June 11-July 11 tournament. However, strong performances in warm-up games have seen him reinforce his position at the heart of the defence.
    Friedrich told reporters in Johannesburg that after having a tough season behind him, he felt more comfortable in the central defence position, where he could be more involved in organising the game.
    He said he thought that the new squad resulting from the loss of Michael Ballack still had good chances in the tournament.
    "There is always competition (between the players) and I think that we have a very balanced team," he said. "With the loss of Michael Ballack there are now other players who really want to play and who have the talent to play. In general, I think it's hard for other teams to work us out than it was before. I haven't heard Jens Lehmann said that our team has less structure, but that can also be an advantage, and we will use that to our advantage."
    Friedrich, who is looking for a new club, said he would most likely play as the left-sided centre-back with Mertesacker on the right.
    The 31-year old, who has won 72 caps, said Germany would probably start with the same team which began their final friendly 3-1 win against Bosnia and also included out-of-form striker Miroslav Klose.
    Disappointing Klose netted only three times in the league in the past season and Germany scored all their goals against Bosnia when he was taken off for in-form striker Cacau.
    But fellow defender Mertesacker also believed the 31-year-old Klose, top scorer at the 2006 World Cup, would start against Australia, and said they were focusing on getting as many points as possible there.
    "We are concentrating mainly on our first match. We know that a lot of things can happen in our first three games. We want to get a certain number of points as fast as possible and therefore it would be bad if we lose the match against Australia," he said. "We need to get used to the climate conditions here. We felt that yesterday during the training session. We have gotten over the flight, there will be some nice training sessions for us the next days, and the tension is growing before our first match."
    Germany, who also play Serbia and Ghana in Group D, must not drop any points against the Australians, given they are eager to quickly book their spot in the second round, Mertesacker said.
    He also noted that the altitude was something that the squad needed to acclimatise in South Africa.
    "We need to get used to the climate conditions here. We felt that yesterday during the training session. We have gotten over the flight, there will be some nice training sessions for us the next days, and the tension is growing before our first match," Mertesacker said.
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