Peacock ready for German challenge
By James Marshall in Morelia
Monday, 04 July, 2011
Head Coach previews Monday's World Cup Quarter Final with Germany.
England U17 Head Coach John Peacock spoke to the media in Mexico on Sunday in his pre-match press conference, ahead of the side’s Quarter Final match against Germany in Morelia and insisted it will be a great experience for both teams involved.
“It’s a fantastic experience for all players involved in a World Cup Quarter Final against Germany and it should be enjoyed by them all,” said Peacock.
Peacock, who tasted disappointment at the hands of Germany at the same stage of the World Cup four years ago in Korea, hopes his side can avenge that defeat and be the first England U17 team to reach a World Cup Semi-Final.
“It is a great achievement to reach the Quarter Final, we face a tough test against Germany but hopefully we can beat them and progress to the Semi-Final,” he added.
“Germany are very good at reaching the latter stages of tournaments at this level, they beat us at the same stage four years ago in Korea, but hopefully we can avenge that defeat and reach our first Semi-Final of an U17s World Cup.”
Peacock, who has all 21 players fully fit to choose from, complemented the German attack following their 4-0 win in the Second Stage against USA, but was also quick to praise his team’s defence.
“We know a lot about the German attack and they have done fantastically well so far with the amount of goals they have scored,” he added. “But we are also very good defensively, so it is set up for a really good game.”
Asked about whether the winners of the match can go all the way and win the World Cup in the famous Azteca Stadium next Sunday, Peacock revealed that he won’t be looking past Germany at the moment.
“Potentially there could be a winner of the tournament here but we will be looking no further than the game against Germany,” he explained.
“It will be a tough test for us but one we can hopefully get past and progress to the next round.”
Peacock went on to add that he expects a tough encounter in Morelia, with both Germany and England knowing each other very well. The two sides met earlier this year in the Algarve Tournament in Portugal when Steffen Freund’s side were 3-1 winners, albeit against an experimental England side.
Freund and his side were also stationed in the same hotel in Serbia at May’s European Championship Finals and the staff and players are more than familiar with each other.
“There are no secrets anymore in football, we know Germany very well and they know how we play,” said Peacock.
“There is great respect between the two countries, we are two very big football nations and I think it will be a really good game of football so hopefully it will be played in the right spirit.”
Germany Head Coach Freund admitted in the joint press conference that it will be a tough game against England but he hopes to reach the Semi-Finals.
“It will be a very hard game for us, it’s an important game and we hope to win to progress to the Semi-Finals.”
The game will be screened live on Eurosport, kick-off at 9pm BST.