Realized in six minutes ‘paper tigers’ England could be beaten: Klose
By ANITuesday, June 29, 2010
BLOEMFONTEIN - Germany striker Miroslav Klose has said that Fabio Capello’s men look great on a team sheet, but his team realized after six minutes of their World Cup Round of 16 match that England could be beaten.
“Look at players in that England team, they’re world class, that’s the long and short of it, but the key thing is presenting yourself as a team and I don’t think that was the case with England,” The Mirror quoted Klose, as saying.
“We thought that the famous 40 years of hurt could come into play here. That England could have been the team that at last ended that wait. Yet we realised after six or seven minutes that they’re not really up to it and we can beat them,” he added.
Klose further said that Germany wins their crucial games only because their team is a “compact unit” of quality players.
“It’s crucial to present yourself as a true team. This is what helped take the wind out of England’s sails. We played as a team and they didn’t seem to. On paper they were more renowned, more famous, but that didn’t translate to their performance on the pitch,” Klose said.
“We’re just a compact unit. It’s proved we’re a tournament team, one which gels as the tournament goes on,” he added.
He further backed Football Association’s calls to introduce video technology in the game.
“If technical solutions are there, they should be used. TV evidence is another thing altogether, but a chip inside the ball or a goal-line light beam barrier would make sense. It’s visible in tennis and other sports so why not football,” Klose said. (ANI)
