FRANCE 98 – News Flash Template

Vogts looks to team spirit to win Cup

BONN, Dec 30 (AFP) -German national coach Berti Vogts said on Tuesday that his side needed to repeat the team spirit shown during their triumphant Euro ’96 campaign if they were to win the 1998 World Cup.

“We need a unified team if we are to perform well in France. Our side is not superior to other teams, not technically, nor physically and certainly not tactically,” a blunt Vogts said.

“We must operate as a united bloc just as the players did in Euro ’96 (where they beat the Czech Republic 2-1 on the golden goal rule) despite all the injuries we suffered prior to the final.

“If those are believed to be German values then so be it we will rely on them again,” he added.

Vogts, who celebrated his 51st birthday today, said that although the team needed to improve on its lacklustre performances in the qualifying group his side had one advantage over the team that crashed out of the 1994 finals to Bulgaria.

“We have several months to improve on our playing side but the atmosphere is vastly improved from the internal quarrelling that damaged us so much (Vogts sent home midfielder Steffen Effenberg after he made an obscene gesture at German fans when he was substituted against South Korea) last time. We have some new personalities in the team who are far less troublesome,” Vogts said.

Vogts, who won the 1974 World Cup as a player and was assistant coach when they claimed the 1990 trophy, added that choosing his squad for the finals would be easier than choosing as to whether his son should go to a private or state school.

“It is a lot easier to tell a player that I will not be taking him to the World Cup than choosing which type of school our son should go to,” Vogts said.

Vogts’ predecessor Franz Beckenbauer, who captained the 1974 World Cup winners and coached the 1990 victors, said that he only feared Brazil in the 1998 renewal.

“When you watch Italy and Spain play for example it gives you great cause for optimism when you compare how Germany plays,” Beckenbauer said.

“Our team is better than the others except perhaps Brazil. I hope they go far in the tournament as they are a joy to watch,” the 52-year-old Bayern Munich president added.