Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Germany stronger than last time says Frings

Germany midfielder Torsten Frings has warned Argentina that the World Cup hosts are a much stronger outfit than the team they faced at the Confederations Cup last June.
Germany cross swords with Argentina on Friday in a titanic quarter-final tussle in Berlin and Frings said Jurgen Klinsmann's team had made giant strides since the two 2-2 draws last year. "We were close to beating them on both occasions and were arguably the better side," Frings said at Tuesday's press conference. "I do not know if they are stronger now, but all I can say for sure is that we are."
In February last year Germany drew 2-2 with Argentina in a friendly in Dusseldorf and then by the same scoreline in the group match at the Confederations Cup. Werder Bremen midfielder Frings played in both of those matches and hopes it is third time lucky against Jose Pekerman's team. "We can play at a high tempo for 90 minutes or 120 minutes if we need to. I do not think Argentina like it when you get amongst them," Frings explained. "We will do everything to beat them and I think we can do it. I think Friday is finally the time to defeat a top nation."
Germany have failed to defeat a recognised top nation since a 1-0 win over England in a World Cup qualifier back in October 2000.
Much has been made of the statistic but Frings, capped 56 times for his country, says he and his team-mates do not have a mental block.
"Not once have we thought about going out," he said. "We are not interested in the past five years. The only important thing is we win on Friday." The 29-year-old Frings is Germany's holding midfielder but said the team would not consider man-marking Argentina's playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme. "We can not make the mistake of concentrating on one player as Argentina have a lot of players that can decide the game," Frings admitted. "I can not imagine running round after Riquelme for 90 minutes. Myself and Michael Ballack will play against him, depending on whose side of the pitch he is on. "We understand each other perfectly and it has worked brilliantly with Michael and the rest of the team."
Defender Per Mertesacker has enjoyed three consecutive clean sheets and says it is vital Germany double up if they are to stop Argentina's potent attack. "We played against Argentina twice last year and know all about (Javier) Saviola, (Hernan) Crespo and the others," Mertesacker said. "They can turn quickly and are very fast. We need to defend as a team and double up. If we allow them one-on-one situations it will be difficult."
Posted by Samvit :: 11:48 PM :: 0 comments

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