“We have come even closer to the top five teams in the world, there is a bit of a tear in my eye thinking of the semi-final we lost, but there is a smile in the other one as we showed both heart and courage against Uruguay,” said midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger. “If we keep improving like this, sooner or later the trophy will be ours.”
His captain Philipp Lahm shares the same sentiments and says more is to come from this side. “We have a very good chance in the coming years to play at the top. We are still nowhere near the end of our development.
“We must continue to work hard. But we have a lot of quality and must be optimistic looking ahead.”
Germany’s squad was the second-youngest side to compete at a World Cup finals with an average age of just under 25.
Ten players of the 23-man World Cup squad are under 25, while Bayern Munich’s Thomas Mueller, who has scored five goals here, has been one of the players of the competition.
Germany coach Joachim Loew has hailed his side’s spirit. “In the second half, when we were forced to dig deep, we saw the mental strength the team had to resist and then snatch victory.”
“I’m pleased with that, the team deserves it. Altogether, what we’ve achieved, we never would have expected it eight or nine months ago.”
It’s just the beginning for Uruguay
Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez lauded his side’s performance at the World Cup but said they had been undone by individual errors against Germany.
The meeting in Port Elizabeth was a re-match of the 1970 third-place match, which Germany won 1-0, after Tabarez had guided his team to the World Cup semi-finals for the first time in 40 years.
“We made one mistake too many, but we showed that we were capable. We showed that we could compete with any team in the world.”
Uruguay have been the surprise package of the World Cup, qualifying from a difficult group that also included France, Mexico and hosts South Africa before defeating South Korea and Ghana to reach the last-four.
“I am proud of what we have achieved here, we were up to the challenge, among the best four teams,” said Uruguay defender Jorge Fucile
“However, as we saw against the Germans the difference between us and the historically successful teams is that they have the ice cold temperament and this little bit extra that edges them past sides like us.”
Loew and Germany team to be honoured
Both coach Joachim Loew and his squad are to receive Germany’s top honour. Loew is to receive Germany’s Federal Cross of Merit, while the team will receive the Silver Bay Laurel Leaf, Germany’s top sporting award, in recognition of their roles as ambassadors by scoring 16 goals at the World Cup.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 12th, 2010.
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