Podolski: Bayern defeat won't affect Germany
Reuters - Thursday 24 May 2012, 12:09
Bayern Munich's dramatic
Champions League final defeat to Chelsea last week may have
affected the club's eight German internationals but their
disappointment will not spread into Euro 2012 starting next
month, Germany winger Lukas Podolski said.
Dominant Bayern missed a bagful of chances, conceded a
last-gasp equaliser and squandered an extra-time spot-kick to
lose 4-3 on penalties in Munich on Saturday after they
repeatedly thought they had done enough to win their fifth
European crown.
"It is difficult to find ways to say things to them now,"
said winger Podolski, who left relegated Cologne after the end
of the season to join Arsenal.
"Personally I had to deal with it as well. I was relegated [this year] and you have to live with that. In sports there are
ups and downs," he told a news conference in southern France
where the team are preparing for the tournament co-hosted by
Poland and Ukraine which starts in June.
Bayern's internationals - captain Philipp Lahm, goalkeeper
Manuel Neuer, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Muller, Holger
Badstuber, Jerome Boateng, Toni Kroos and Mario Gomez - will
join the team in the coming days.
Muller said this week that his frustration was growing the
more he thought about the game.
"All eight are great players and our quality on the pitch
will not be affected by this result," said Poland-born Podolski,
who has already amassed 95 caps at the age of 26.
He said processing the defeat should be a matter of days
rather than weeks.
"It lasts a few days. The relegation is far more dramatic as
there are financial implications and jobs are affected. I dealt
with it for two or three days and the same should happen to
Bayern and then [they should] start looking into the future
again."
Germany, aiming for their first major title since 1996 and
their fourth European trophy, take on Portugal, Netherlands and
Denmark in the group stage of the tournament.
"The last few tournaments we were happy with semi-final
finishes but we are that good now and have developed well in the
past few years to be able to say that we will challenge for the
title," said Podolski.
Germany were runners-up at Euro 2008 and clinched third
place at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.
"It is good to be able to say 'We want the title'. If we get
off to a good start against Portugal then that will be perfect.
We need to be on fire in that first game and the pitch needs to
light up," he said.