Now Philipp Lahm, who captained Germany to a third place finish in South Africa, expressed mixed emotions ahead of Germany’s qualifier against Belgium. The Bayern Munich defender believes in the potential of the German national football team. However, he also stressed the importance of being concentrated when his side will clash against Belgium away from home on Friday. Philipp Lahm explained during a press conference:
“When we’ll go on the field for the match against Belgium, we will need to be fully focused. Our qualifying group isn’t an easy one. But, we are determined to pick up the full three points in our opener.
“It could be a disadvantage to face Belgium so soon. That’s because we don’t have a lot of match rhythm yet since our season only just started. You can’t expect us to play like we did against England and Argentina at the World Cup.”
Germany actually humiliated both the English and the Argentines during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Despite being a young and inexperienced squad, the Nationalelf wowed the public as they only just missed out on the finals of the tournament following their semi-final defeat to eventual champions Spain. Germany bounced back in the third place final, though, by triumphing over Uruguay to win bronze medals as a consolation prize.
Philip Lahm, who deputized for the injured Michael Ballack as the captain of the DFB Eleven, received praises for guiding such an inexperienced team all the way to a third place finish. Presently, info concerning captaincy issues in the German squad indicates that Michael Ballack will take back the captain’s armband once he returns to the national team. Speaking about this matter, Philipp Lahm concluded:
“I have to accept the coach’s decision to have Michael Ballack as the team’s permanent captain. However, I am looking forward to carrying the armband against Belgium in the absence of Michael. Still, there are always several players on the pitch who all have responsibilities to assume.”
Belgium vs Germany is scheduled to start at 2:45pm EST on Friday, September 3. Visit the Belgium vs Germany Live Streaming and TV Schedule page for further details concerning this Euro 2012 fixture.
