- Title: GERMANY: GERMANY PREPARES FOR A WORLD CUP PLAY-OFF AGAINST UKRAINE
- Date: 7th November 2001
- Summary: GREVENBROICH, GERMANY (NOV 7, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. BUS WITH GERMANY TEAM ARRIVING 2. CARSTEN RAMELOW (BAYER LEVERKUSEN), MARKO REHMER (HERTHA BERLIN), OLVIER BIERHOFF (MONACO), MICHAEL BALLACK (BAYER LEVERKUSEN), (UNIDENTIFIED) AND GERALD ASAMOAH (SCHALKE 04) OFF BUS 3. CAMERAMAN FILMING 4. CARSTEN JANCKER, THOMAS LINKE AND OLIVER NEUVILLE (ALL BAYERN MUNICH) OFF BUS 5. COACH RUDI VOELLER WALKING INTO NEWS CONFERENCE 6. SOUNDBITE (German) RUDI VOELLER, GERMAN COACH SAYING "We all know what Dynamo Kiev who played against Borussia Dortmund recently and against other German teams in the past is capable of if you let them play. Of course we want to avoid that. The importance of the Germany team is obvious, also because of the press attention."It is clear that the players wearing the (German) eagle on their jersey have to be up to it and be able to deal with that pressure." 7. JOURNALISTS, PAN TO BALLACK SPEAKING 8. SOUNDBITE (German) MICHAEL BALLACK (BAYER LEVERKUSEN) SAYING "This is an extraordinary and new situation for me as well. But I'm not that concerned. The more you think about it the more tense you go into the game. You have to keep cool even though the game is so important. The game could actually profit from that." 9. JOURNALISTS TAKING NOTES 10. SOUNDBITE (German) CHRISTIAN ZIEGE (TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR) SAYING "I still think that Ukraine is a good team with good individual players but they are certainly not superior. So I think we have to believe in our strengths and each one of us who is on that field must ensure that we will qualify for the World Cup." 11. PHOTOGRAPHERS TAKING PICTURES Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 22nd November 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: GREVENBROICH, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Reuters ID: LVA56KL0NGSSLXN2OQ2ZQ4A2W8AS
- Story Text: German coach Rudi Voeller is getting ready for a date
with destiny, a World Cup play-off against Ukraine which
will decide if Germany misses the World Cup for the first time
and whether he keeps his job.
The three-time World Cup champions need to beat Ukraine
on November 10 in Kiev and four days later in Dortmund to make
next years tournament in Japan and South Korea.
Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder, president of the German Football
Association (DFB), gave Voeller his unqualified support,
describing him as a lucky break for German football.
Voeller, hailed as the saviour of German soccer when he
took
over the demoralised team after a dreadful Euro 2000, said on
Wednesday (November 7) "We all know what Dynamo Kiev who
played against Borussia Dortmund recently and against other
German teams in the past is capable of if you let them play.
Of course we want to avoid that. The importance of the Germany
team is obvious, also because of the press attention.
It is clear that the players wearing the (German) eagle on
their jersey have to be up to it and be able to deal with that
pressure."
Voeller, appointed on a caretaker basis following
Germany's irst-round exit at Euro 2000, said he was grateful
for Mayer-Vorfelders backing but a traumatic 5-1 home drubbing
by England and a 0-0 draw against Finland had changed
everything.
Bayer Leverkusen player, Michael Ballack about keeping
his cool for the upcoming game.
"This is an extraordinary and new situation for me as
well. But I'm not that concerned. The more you think about it
the more tense you go into the game. You have to keep cool
even though the game is so important. The game could actually
profit from that," he said.
Christain Zeige said that Ukraine are not the strongly
side. "I still think that Ukraine is a good team with good
individual players but they are certainly not superior. So I
think we have to believe in our strengths and each one of us
who is on that field must ensure that we will qualify for the
World Cup," the Tottenham Hot Spurs player said.
Former international Paul Breitner has gone on record
saying that failure to qualify would provide an opportunity to
rebuild for 2006, when Germany hosts the World Cup finals.
Most German Bundesliga coaches and managers are heading to
the game in Kiev as a sign of solidarity and will pay for the
trip out of their own pockets.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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