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Tuesday, 6 October 2015

Gundogan Ready for Eire


Germany will have to beat 11 Irish players on the field and thousands off it when they look to win the point they need to qualify for EURO 2016 this Thursday, according to Ilkay Gundogan and Jerome Boateng.

Having beaten Scotland in front of a partisan crowd in Glasgow last month, Germany have already had a taste of what they can expect at the Aviva Stadium this week with the atmosphere seen as one of the biggest challenges they will face.

"The fans make it a great atmosphere, but we just have to focus on our game," said Bayern Munich defender Boateng.

Dortmund midfielder Gundogan added: "I think that Ireland are similar to Scotland and it's going to be a great atmosphere, and I think we can all look forward to it.

"We beat Scotland, though, and we should be aiming to do the same in Dublin to book our ticket (to France)."
"We do hear the fans, but even if we put together a good move or score a good goal you always get applause from the home fans here."

A point would suffice on Thursday for Germany to seal their qualification mathematically.

They will nevertheless not be parking the bus and playing for a draw in Dublin with Gundogan explaining that is not the world champions' mentality.

"We've not even had the chance to talk about it yet, but I don't think we're going to aim to get the point we need and play a tactical game," he said at a press conference on Tuesday.

"We want to win, of course, and I'm sure we'll play for all three points."

Boateng has warned that Germany will have to be patient and wait for their chances, but he is equally convinced that those fans who will be jeering their every touch at the start of the game will be recognising their quality come the end.

"This is a very important game in which we want to get the points to qualify," he said.

"We've got to keep things tight to start with and be patient, and then look for the gaps and try to exploit them. We do hear the fans, but even if we put together a good move or score a good goal you always get applause from the home fans here.

"They are very respectful. It's great to see how fair most of the fans are in Ireland."

Lukas Podolski is a doubt for the trip to Ireland due to an ankle injury, but Thomas Muller is on board and expected to be Germany's danger man once again.

"You never know what Thomas Muller's going to do next," said Gundogan, who was unable to keep the Bayern midfielder quiet in his side's 5-1 defeat at the weekend which saw Muller on target twice.

"With some players you can second guess them, but with Thomas Muller you have no idea.

"He just pops up in front of goal, unmarked, and does it really smartly. He's very important for Bayern and for Germany too."

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