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Despite the disappointment after a painful loss in the semi-finals against Italy, the host team Germany's national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann praised his player's efforts and stated that they made their country proud.
"We are very disappointed, but we have to praise our team, they are a young team. The spirit and character they demonstrated are extraordinary. They made their country proud. Playing in a World Cup at home is something very special. We have many young talented players. The guys are sitting there, and they have to swallow a bitter pill. We had opportunities to score first, but it didn't happen, and then they took advantage of their chances. It's very painful," regretted J. Klinsmann.
The German coach also praised his opponents for their performance and stated that the World Cup was very successful for Germany as a country: "We also have to give big compliments to Italy, they made it to the final, so I wish them luck. That's how it goes, and that's why football is so charming. The World Cup was a huge success for the team and the country, it showed a completely new face of Germans to the world, and we can be proud of that."
The coach's opinion on the bright future of the team was supported by the most scoring player of the tournament with five goals, Miroslav Klose: "I think we can be proud of this team. We have many young players, and I think we have a future. Both teams had opportunities to score and win the game. Italians need to be praised, they used counter-attacks. Now we want to win the match for the third place."
"It's painful to lose in the very end of the game, it's hard to explain. We had good chances to score, at the end there was no lack of freshness, we were prepared, everyone could still run. Two very good teams were playing on the field, there weren't many opportunities. The match was even, we had our chances too. It's hard to find an explanation. Of course, we are very disappointed. It's very sad to lose to Italy here in Dortmund. We had the goal to reach the semi-finals, but having achieved it, we wanted to go all the way," said Germany's national team defender Philipp Lahm.
