GERMANY: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - German women's national soccer team will go highly motivated and highly concentrated into the quarter-final again Japan, while the Japanese say the pressure is all on their opponents

Record ID: 465634

  • Title: GERMANY: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - German women's national soccer team will go highly motivated and highly concentrated into the quarter-final again Japan, while the Japanese say the pressure is all on their opponents
  • Date: 9th July 2011
  • Summary: WOLFSBURG, GERMANY (JULY 8, 2011) (REUTERS) GERMAN, FIFA AND JAPANESE FLAGS IN STADIUM TRAINING OF GERMAN TEAM KERSTIN GAREFREKES AT TRAINING PITCH PLAYERS TAKING SHOTS GERMAN COACH SILVIA NEID GERMAN TEAM TAKING SHOTS VARIOUS OF BIRGIT PRINZ S GERMAN TEAM AT TRAINING NEWS CONFERENCE OF GERMAN TEAM PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN COACH SILVIA NEID SAYING "We all know what to expect tomorrow. We are in the quarter-finals and we have a strong opponent, Japan, who are technically very adept, who are very mobile and agile, who have many good ideas for the match. And when they have the space they out-play every opponent. And that we have to deal with tomorrow. And I hope that at the end we are the team with the three points" WIDE NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) MIDFIELDER KIM KULIG SAYING "We want to win every match and of course tomorrow is a very important match. We know that it'll be very difficult but we want to be the winner at the end, that's for sure" JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN COACH SILVIA NEID SAYING: "Yes, I did tell him (Japanese coach) that the Japanese are very good footballers and that they have very good timing and they can judge the ball very well, and it's not necessarily about (German players being) 10 centimetres taller or not, it's about judging the ball. And it won't be that we only play with long passes and high balls. Of course we will try to go via the outside and play crosses, but then it is important to get possession of the ball before the opponent does, and that will be decisive. And not the height" VARIOUS OF NEID TALKING AT PRESSER (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN COACH SILVIA NEID SAYING: "It is as easy or difficult as the last time. One thinks about it how to play. And we will not take any yellow cards into considerations because it is all about to be among the best four (teams) in the world this year or not. And so the yellow cards are only a secondary thought." WIDE NEWSER JOURNALISTS NEWS CONFERENCE OF JAPANESE TEAM (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE COACH NORIO SASAKI SAYING: "We have heard at the hotel that (German) chancellor (Angela) Merkel visited the German team and talked to the team and this should add pressure to the German team. So it'll be not easy for the German team. And we are in a great position - we are the challengers, we are not the favourites of the game, and the pressure is obviously on Germany, that should make it easier for us and we try to be a good challenger" (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) MIDFIELDER HOMARE SAWA SAYING: "It's up to the Germans to win, they have to win, they are the hosts and there will be a lot of spectators, a few tens of thousands. And among this the pressure is definitively on the Germans and as the coach said we are just the challenger and we are happy to be here and we are really enjoying this build-up to the game and I don't really feel any pressure, it is really enjoyable for me" WIDE NEWS CONFERENCE OF JAPANESE TEAM VARIOUS OF JAPANESE GOALKEEPER TRAINING WIDE TRAINING OF JAPANESE TEAM MORE TRAINING OF JAPANESE TEAM WIDE PITCH VARIOUS OF SAWA TRAINING VARIOUS OF JAPANESE GOALKEEPER WIDE TRAINING OF JAPANESE TEAM
  • Embargoed: 24th July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany, Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA8GXHS2E05R6FNFBNO02THMOTZ
  • Story Text: Germany is towering over Japan in the Women's World Cup quarter-finals with a height advantage nearly as big as the home field advantage.
    In the last game, Germany had one player smaller than 5-foot-7, while Japan only had one player taller.
    The sellout crowd of 26,000 at Wolfsburg on Saturday will be cheering for the host team on Saturday (July 9) as the nation has done since the tournament started two weeks ago. And with its penchant for lethal headers, Germany should have a distinct advantage over the much smaller Japanese.
    The Asian side is renowned for passing combinations and quickness. But when England used a physical game in the last group match, Japan lost 2-0. Germany, too, is expected to step up with bold challenges.
    Germany has won its three group games and has improved after a hesitant start. Its breakthrough game was a 4-2 win over France, when coach Silvia Neid kept Germany's all-time World Cup star Birgit Prinz on the bench after two bad outings.
    Replacing anybody less would have been easy, but Prinz is the symbol of German soccer and the driving force behind its 2003 and 2007 World Cup wins.
    Prinz's replacement, Inka Grings, scored twice, one with a header. And 5-foot-9 Kerstin Garefrekes also has two headers on her scoring tally.
    But size doesn't matter that much, insisted Neid. "Yes, I did tell him (Japanese coach) that the Japanese are very good footballers and that they have a very good timing and they can judge the ball very well, and it's not necessarily about 10 centimetres taller or not, it's about judging the ball. And it wont be that we only play with long passes and high balls, of course we will try to go via the outside and play crosses but then it is important to get possession of the ball before the opponent does, and that will be decisive. And not the height."
    Germany coach Silvia Neid left out captain Birgit Prinz, the most capped player in women's football, for their 4-2 win over France in their final group game after two below-par performances.
    And the 33-year-old, who will retire after the tournament, expects to start on the bench again against Japan.
    Germany's playmaker Fatmire Bajramaj made her first start of the tournament against France and says the Japanese will be a step up from the French, who breached the German defence twice.
    Both defensive midfielder Simone Laudehr and Kim Kulig face suspension if they pick up another yellow card, while defender Linda Bresonik is back fit after stomach problems before the France game.
    But Neid said she is not too concerned about yellow cards.
    The Japanese coach Norio Sasaki is refusing to be daunted by their women's World Cup quarterfinal against hosts and defending champions Germany on Saturday (July 9).
    Germany are bidding for a third straight World Cup title.
    Japan impressed in Group B with convincing wins over New Zealand and Mexico before they lost 2-0 to England in their final group game, and Sasaki is relishing taking on the Germans.
    "We have heard at the hotel that (German) chancellor (Angela) Merkel visited the German team and talked to the team and this should also add pressure to the German team," Sasaki said. "And we are in a great position - we are the challengers, we are not the favourites of the game, and the pressure is obviously on Germany, that should make it easier for us and we try to be a good challenger."
    The winner will meet either Sweden or Australia in Frankfurt in the semi-final on Wednesday (July 13).
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