Consistency, mental strength set up our victory: Muller
NEW DELHI: German captain Maximillian Muller, on Thursday, attributed consistency and big match mental strength as the reasons for their easy 4-1 victory over England in the World Cup semi-final.
“We have been consistent in this tournament. England were a good side but we also played consistently throughout the 70 minutes today. That made the difference,” Muller said.
“I think we were better than England in all departments of the game. We played as a team and we were on top after we scored the two quick goals in the first half,” he added.
Germany scored their third goal via a fine penalty corner variation and Muller said the players practised different modes of taking the short corners.
“We were having different variations of penalty corner hits and one of them came good today. It was satisfying,” he said.
Asked about the famous German big match temperament which saw them won the last two editions, Muller said, “People say we have the big match temperament and we have the mental strength. It is just like that. I am proud to be a German,” he quipped with a smile.
Coach Markus Weise said the 4-1 result did not show the difficulty on the field and it was a tough match against the English.
“It was a tough match. The 4-1 scoreboard did not reflect it. Had we not scored the two quick goals in the first half and had England scored two goals the game could have been different,” he said.
England coach Jason Lee was candid enough in admitting that the Germans were class apart and they could only learn from them.
“We felt the absence of Richard Mantell and also we lacked experience. They are world number one and we were playing only the second semi-final while they have played in 11 out of the 12 editions. They are much above us in class and we can learn from them,” he said.
“They also scored two quick goals in the first half and we were playing catch-up. It was disappointing but in a way we are setting standards in our hockey by playing a semi-final after 24 years. This will take England hockey forward,” he added.
England captain Barry Middleton said the difference between the two sides was in the defence.
“They (Germans) were clinical today better than us in all departments. But the main difference was in defence,” he said.