After a game in which nothing went right, Germany is where it wanted to be: last night (Sunday), the host team finished with a 1:1 draw with the Swiss team, and finished in first place in Group A of Euro 2024. At the end of a bad game – but one in which the point was achieved .
And the hero of the evening was, without a doubt, Niklas Polkrug – the striker of Borussia Dortmund came on as a substitute in the 76th minute, and scored the goal that gave Germany the prestigious 1:1. This is the fourth time he has scored after coming on as a substitute in a major tournament, and with this goal became the outstanding player of the Germans in this category.
Does he have a secret? He was asked, and answered: “There’s no secret. I’m not used to coming off the bench in my club, but it’s important to bring renewed energy. All the substitutions worked today, Lauterback was good, Raum made the save. It was a nice moment for the team. It wasn’t the goal that kept us in the tournament , but it changed the situation – and now we won’t get a tough opponent, like we would have if we were in second place.”
“But in any case, if we want to be European champions – we will have to beat everyone, and each team has its advantages. We will have to concentrate on ourselves.”
Ilkay Gundoan added: “It couldn’t have been better at the end. It was a tough game for us. It wasn’t the level we’re used to, maybe we attacked too much without being ready. We’ll have to improve in the coming weeks.”
His teammate, Toni Kroos, was more optimistic: “I don’t think we deserved to lose – we dominated the game, and in the end we got our money’s worth. Switzerland is a good team, but we dominated and they scored in their first situation. I’m completely satisfied with our team.”
ظهرت في الأصل على www.sport5.co.il