SOUTH AFRICA: SOCCER/FOOTBALL - WORLD CUP 2010 - Schweinsteiger and Boateng in race against time to face England

Record ID: 455119

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: SOCCER/FOOTBALL - WORLD CUP 2010 - Schweinsteiger and Boateng in race against time to face England
  • Date: 27th June 2010
  • Summary: BLOEMFONTEIN, SOUTH AFRICA (JUNE 26, 2010) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE WITH GERMAN GOALKEEPING COACH ANDREAS KOEPKE CAMERAMAN NEWS CONFERENCE WITH KOPKE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN GOALKEEPING COACH ANDREAS KOEPKE SAYING: "It is still open. The coaches will meet this evening, we will have to wait and see how Basti's (Bastian Schweinsteiger) muscles react and then the coaching team will sit toether and go through all the eventualities, and if Basti can't play, then it will hurt us, then we will have a solution ready tomorrow, but at the moment we are not yet sure." JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN GOALKEEPING COACH ANDREAS KOEPKE SAYING: "From time to time we practice penalties for certain international matches, sometimes more than others. But when it comes down to it, I don't think you can simulate this situation in training. The stadium is full and after 120 minutes you are exhausted, the tension is enormous. All these highly paid players can score goals in training, including penalties, but when the situation comes, it is hard to simulate it, and so I don't think penalty shooting practice will help much." JOURNALISTS NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN GOALKEEPING COACH ANDREAS KOEPKE SAYING: "I think these players are still effected by all the history, that they see it the same way, there are certain matches which just have a different meaning because of history, and England versus Germany is one of them. I am often asked about 1996 by them, and this butterfly feeling they still feel, even if they were very young when it happend, but all the things around it, the media, the atmosphere in Germany, the atmosphere in England, they feel it all, it gives them butterflies in their stomach, even as young players." LEAVES
  • Embargoed: 12th July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA85AEZOP8C5KXZZMH8AKCBQHYQ
  • Story Text: Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger's participation in Sunday's (June 27) World Cup second round clash against England will be decided only hours before the match as the Germans hold out hope he could be fit to play.
    The 25-year-old playmaker, who plays a key role in their young squad with the absence of injured captain Michael Ballack, picked up a thigh muscle injury in their final Group D match against Ghana.
    He has missed the team training for the past two days.
    Defender Jerome Boateng is also doubtful following his calf muscle injury in the same game. Both players trained lightly on Saturday.
    "We will take the final decision tomorrow and the last training where we will see how fit they are," said goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke, who replaced coach Joachim Loew at the final pre-match news conference in Bloemfontein, South Africa on Saturday (June 26).
    Loew has said 20-year-old midfielder Toni Kroos, who came on as a substitute for Schweinsteiger late in the Ghana match, could replace him from the start.
    Marcell Jansen or Holger Badstuber could replace Boateng as left back. Striker Cacau, however, will definitely miss the game with a stomach muscle injury picked up in training on Friday. Koepke said he would be out for up to four days.
    The fixture is steeped in history, ever since England beat West Germany 4-2 in the 1966 World Cup final in London. Since then, West German or German sides have generally held the upper hand in major competitions over England.
    They won twice by penalty shoot-outs in the 1990 World Cup semi-final and the Euro 96 semis, but Koepke said that practising taking penalties in training was not necessarily worthwhile.
    "From time to time we practice penalties for certain international matches, sometimes more than others. But when it comes down to it, I don't think you can simulate this situation in training. The stadium is full and after 120 minutes you are exhausted, the tension is enormous. All these highly paid players can score goals in training, including penalties, but when the situation comes, it is hard to simulate it, and so I don't think penalty shooting practice will help much," said Koepke.
    Koepke added that the history of the matches between the two nations will add to the tension on Sunday.
    "I think these players are still effected by all the history, that they see it the same way, there are certain matches which just have a different meaning because of history, and England versus Germany is one of them. I am often asked about 1996 by them, and this butterfly feeling they still feel, even if they were very young when it happend, but all the things around it, the media, the atmosphere in Germany, the atmosphere in England, they feel it all, it gives them butterflies in their stomach, even as young players," he said.
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