Captain Phillip Lahm had nothing to hide while speaking to press ahead of Thursday night’s Germany vs Italy UEFA Euro 2012 semi-final match.
“We wanted England. They carried less of a threat than Italy and history dictates that we always come out on top against the English,” said the Bayern Munich and Germany defender.
“The other advantage of facing England is memories of us beating them 4-1 at the 2010 World Cup would have been at the forefront of their minds.”
Wanting to humble England and their fans, Phillip Lahm made the following statement:
“And to be fair, Germany have improved since then whereas England have struggled, particularly at this tournament.”
England lost out to Italy on penalties at the previous stage. Meanwhile, the Germans triumphed 4-1 in the quarter-finals against Greece. Phillip Lahm, who opened the scoring with a terrific long range strike, is now ready to face Cesare Prandelli’s Italians in the UEFA Euro 2012 semi-finals.
Lahm is confident his team can succeed on Thursday. Despite branding the Azzurri as very wasteful against the Lions, the German skipper analysed the semi-final fixture as such:
“Of course, Italy carry a threat. Pirlo is having a great tournament and is at the heart of everything good thing about Italy.
“It's important we address the threat and limit the time he has on the ball. And Balotelli is very dangerous if he's given time and space.”
He concluded:
“We are on course to make history and we are in no mood to disappoint.”
“The other advantage of facing England is memories of us beating them 4-1 at the 2010 World Cup would have been at the forefront of their minds.”
Wanting to humble England and their fans, Phillip Lahm made the following statement:
“And to be fair, Germany have improved since then whereas England have struggled, particularly at this tournament.”
England lost out to Italy on penalties at the previous stage. Meanwhile, the Germans triumphed 4-1 in the quarter-finals against Greece. Phillip Lahm, who opened the scoring with a terrific long range strike, is now ready to face Cesare Prandelli’s Italians in the UEFA Euro 2012 semi-finals.
Lahm is confident his team can succeed on Thursday. Despite branding the Azzurri as very wasteful against the Lions, the German skipper analysed the semi-final fixture as such:
“Of course, Italy carry a threat. Pirlo is having a great tournament and is at the heart of everything good thing about Italy.
“It's important we address the threat and limit the time he has on the ball. And Balotelli is very dangerous if he's given time and space.”
He concluded:
“We are on course to make history and we are in no mood to disappoint.”
