Germany midfielder Toni Kroos has lamented the "many mistakes" committed in their final warm-up match ahead of the Euro 2024, where they will be chasing a dream championship on home soil.
Germany came from a goal down to snatch a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Greece on Friday in a lacklustre dress rehearsal for the tournament, which gets underway on Friday.
The host nation take on Scotland in Group A, before playing Hungary and Switzerland — with German fans desperate to see the 2014 World Cup champions win their first major international title in a decade.
"We know well that in football bad first-halves are part of it,” said Kroos who retired from club football after helping Real Madrid win a 15th Champions League title last Saturday, and will call time on his career after the Euros.
“Just too many mistakes. We gifted the ball away too often, then we were hit on the break. We were more focused in the second-half. We did it better after the break.”
A few more high-profile stars will compete in their final Euros. They include Olivier Giroud (France), Luka Modric (Croatia), Manuel Neuer (Germany) and Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese veteran whose wealth of experience Portugal manager Roberto Martinez believes will benefit his squad.
Portugal are in Group F and will begin their campaign against the Czech Republic, before taking on Turkey and Georgia.
Ronaldo, the leading scorer in men's international football with 128 goals in 204 official matches, will be playing in his sixth Euros — having reached the final in his tournament debut in 2004 and winning the competition in 2016.
The 39-year-old’s move to Saudi Arabia in 2023 has raised questions about whether his career is nearing an end, but Martinez said the Al-Nassr attacker still had a lot to offer. “Cristiano had very consistent performances at his club,” he said.
“There’s no doubt that he’s an incredible scorer. He’s the only player who has played in five European Championships. So we’re talking about achieving a unique feat in the world of soccer, and his experience is important for us.
“We have 23 players. But Cristiano is prepared to help the team and give everything he can give. And there’s no other player in the world of soccer who can bring what Cristiano can to the dressing room.”
Meanwhile, after watching his side lose 1-0 to Iceland at Wembley, England manager Gareth Southgate conceded the defeat was a “far from ideal” preparation for the tournament at which England — runners-up in the last edition — will be one of the favourites.
There were boos at fulltime from the crowd, with some fans seemingly more interested in trying to throw paper airplanes onto the pitch than watching the action on it, which Southgate said was understandable, given England’s performance.
But he insisted his side would be much better when their Euros campaign begins next week, adding that the defeat “gives us a chance to really focus the mind”.
Southgate added: “I’m not going to dress up the disappointment about the performance, but equally we have to stay calm because we know what needs to be put right, and we will work on that”.
Reuters
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