The 6-0 win over Austria was also quickly ticked off / showdown on Sunday
And the marmot greets you every day. True to this motto, the national players treated yesterday's 6-0 win against Austria in the same way as the 5-0 opening win against Japan the day before. Because: The match against the neighbors from the Alpine country was quickly over and the focus was immediately turned to the future. On Sunday there will be the showdown against Latvia that many experts are expecting (17 p.m., live on SPORT1). A game of 'all or nothing'.
Despite two wins and impressive 11-0 goals, national coach Marco Sturm's team is anything but complacent. Goalscorer Patrick Reimer provided the reason: “In terms of the result, the match was a clear matter for us, but you also have to say that it was closer than the result says.” The Nuremberg player had hit the nail on the head. At first, Germany didn't really get going like they did in the first game against Japan. Reimer confirmed. “We had a bit of a hard time at the beginning. Ultimately, we took our chances consistently towards the end of the game and deserved to win.”
Tobias Rieder agreed with his teammate: “We had a hard time getting into the game in the first ten minutes, but after that we played better and better. In the end, it was a decent game for us overall." Meanwhile, Rieder looked ahead to the decisive match against Latvia: "We know very well that we have to go one better on Sunday against Latvia, especially given the expected crowd .” The Arena Riga, which has a capacity of over 10.000 spectators, will then become a madhouse.
However, this is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage, as was emphasized in the German selection. “Of course the audience can play a decisive factor,” said national coach Marco Sturm, but immediately pointed out that his boys could also use this circumstance to their advantage. “It’s not always necessarily an advantage over your own Fans playing with such high expectations. You have to deal with this pressure first. That can also inhibit.”
Nevertheless: The national team only concentrates on things that they can influence themselves. “Accelerate right from the start,” demanded captain Marcel Goc, thinking back to the Japan game. “We have to be wide awake right from the start and play to our strengths.”