Interview: Klinsmann: We're confident, but Sweden will be tough - Part 1

By Barry Whelan Jun 23, 2006, 16:08 GMT

Berlin - Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann says the World Cup starts in earnest with the knock-out stage beginning on Saturday.

In an interview, he looks ahead to his side's last-16 game against Sweden in Munich.

Q: What will the game be like against Sweden?

Klinsmann: 'We expect a tough game. It will be a very fast game played at a high pace. We saw this from the Swedish side in the first three games. We were very impressed by the rhythm they play. We even saw this against Trinidad and Tobago which was a so-called negative result, because on the playing side they did well and only missed the goal. They could have scored already in the first 20 minutes - they had enough chances.

'We expect a game where both teams will go for it. We have a lot of respect for their attacking line-up. When you have players in your team like Henrik Larsson, (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic or (Freddie) Ljungberg, those are exceptional players and they deserve respect. We will do our best to make their life a little difficult.'

Q: What qualities do you see in your team which will give you victory on Saturday?

Klinsmann: 'We have the belief in ourselves that we can keep the pace that Sweden sets, that we could actually go higher pacewise depending on how the game goes. That is important for the players to know, and we have individually also players similar to Sweden who can decide a game - players like (Miroslav) Klose or Michael Ballack, even (Lukas) Podolski as he showed last year in the Confederations Cup, players that can make a difference in a specific moment, like Ljungberg can too, or Larsson.

'We are very confident because the team knows that it is growing so we are getting stronger. We go into the game with a wide chest, positively now. We have the crowd behind us. We have a home game even if we know that there will be 20,000 Swedish fans and they will make a great noise too. But we feel that this is our tournament.'

Q: You mentioned the strengths of the Swedish side. What weaknesses have you seen?

Klinsmann: 'Oh no, I'm not giving you anything on that. You can give me the best espresso in the world, I'm not saying ... and I like espressos.'

Q: What will you be thinking on Saturday at 5 o'clock in the afternoon (kick-off time)?

Klinsmann: 'What we do, Jogi (assistant coach Joachim Loew) and I as a coach - we let go. You try to do everything possible to prepare a team but then you have to let go. You live the game still on the sideline, but you know you have almost no influence any more. It's their job. They are on the field and they make the decisions and it's their game.

'It's a players' game and it will always will remain a players' game - as much as you run up and down the sidelines, it doesn't matter. That's more to release your own tension.' dpa bw ms