Germany-Croatia – J. Kohler: “An elimination such as this really hurts”

Germany-Croatia – J. Kohler: “An elimination such as this really hurts”

05.07.98 00h42 CET

Christian WÖRNS (2):

“In the play which led to my sending off, I was late, but I wasn’t the last line of defence because KÖHLER (4) was covering me. I didn’t injure my opponent badly, I’ve seen the replay on television and I think that the red card was a joke”.

 Oliver BIERHOFF (20):

“The sending off was harsh. A yellow card would have been more fair. Nevertheless, I’ll have to see the slow motion replay. The sending off was a turning point and it’s a real shame for Christian WÖRNS (2). Up until the red card it was GERMANY’s best match to date. But we just couldn’t break through. In the changing room there was silence, everybody was very despondent. It hurts even more because we didn’t deserve to lose. The coach didn’t say anything, it’s true that under such circumstances it’s hard to talk to the players”.

 Lothar MATTHAUS (8):

“Sending off Christian WÖRNS (2) was completely unjustified. Davor SUKER (9) was the first to the ball and Christian WÖRNS (2) went in for the tackle. The referee should have consulted his assistant referee who must have seen that Christian WÖRNS (2) was not the last line of defence but that Jürgen KOHLER (4) was behind him. It’s hard to believe that FIFA obliges each team captain to wear the fair play armband when the FIFA referee is not at all fair. If he had consulted his assistant referee, he would have seen that Jürgen KOHLER (4) was behind him”.

Jürgen KOHLER (4):

“We’ve got nothing to reproach ourselves about because this was by far our best match. Even reduced to 10 men, we were still dangerous. An elimination such as this really hurts. In fact, tonight I certainly played my last match with the national team. I’m obviously unhappy to finish on such a note but you have to know how to lose. We must think of the future and reconstruct a new team with younger players”.