Oliver Bierhoff, former striker for Udinese from 1995 to 1998 and the German national team, gave an interview to Gazzetta dello Sport ahead of the Nations League quarterfinal between the Azzurri and the German…
His words.
FROM 2004 TO 2022 HE WAS MANAGER OF GERMANY AND CHALLENGED ITALY THREE TIMES AT THE TOURNAMENTS… “They were always tense, hard-fought matches. A World Cup and two European Championships, with so much at stake: two semifinals and a quarterfinal. Two defeats for us, then the liberation of 2016. But my memories of setbacks against Italy begin much earlier….”
THE DEFEAT AGAINST THE AZZURRIANS IN THE MILITARY WORLD CUP… “We lost 2-0. I was 19 years old and on the other side were players like Vialli and Ferrara. There was already talk that they were great soccer players. But there was also talk about a guy who was going to explode, even though he was not at that tournament: Paolo Maldini.”
IN 1996 HE WON THE EUROPEAN WITH GERMANY, BUT DID NOT PLAY IN THE GROUNDS AGAINST THE AZZURRI… “What anger. I stayed out because of the Italians, in the sense that coach Vogts explained to me, ‘You play in Udinese. They know you.’ But after that game Fredi Bobic got hurt and there was room for me.”
ON THE 2006 WORLD CUP SEMIFINAL. “Italy won because they had so much quality. The team that wins even in extra time always has something more, like us in 2014 with Argentina. In Dortmund we showed grit, physique and team spirit. We gave 105 percent. But the Azzurri had a few more touches, see Del Piero’s.”
ON THE EURO2012 SEMIFINAL. “I don’t remember this match … Seriously, it was a crucial match for Löw, because up to that point he was almost untouchable. He had too much respect for Italy, too defensive. When I heard his plans before the match, I got angry. We changed too much out of fear. We lost 2-1, taking Balotelli’s second goal from a corner for us. Löw was much criticized, it was said in Germany that he also lost him to sacrifice Kroos in marking Pirlo, however, we dominated, but we lost stupid goals. That was really a blow for us, because we did not feel inferior, unlike 2006. The defeat in 2012 was perhaps one of the bitterest and most heartfelt in our era. Even though it then propelled us to the World title in 2014.”
HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BLUE. “The delegation behaved respectfully. I remember the gentility of Gigi Riva, who came to greet us. Cesare Prandelli also knew us, he was very friendly and kind.”
ON THE QUARTERFINALS IN THE 2016 EUROPEANS. “Another tense night, but we passed. I respect Conte a lot, he gives great grit, however as an opponent he is not really nice. He was like that as a footballer too, when I had played against him he was not someone you liked, who talked quietly with you. In Bordeaux we hardly even looked at each other. On the field then we had more quality, but the last penalty went in a strange way, weak. You can see it was written in the stars.”
HOW CAN SPALLETTI REBUILD THE TEAM AFTER THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE LAST EUROPEANS. “You have to have the pride of playing in the national team, of being well in a unit that has big goals and you understand that you can only achieve them with enthusiasm and team spirit, even if there is less quality. If you have 10, 12, 15 champions, as we also had in 2014, it’s about managing people. Otherwise you have to work on the group, on identity, on discipline. You have to get on the field and understand that the result can only be achieved together.”
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