bundesliga.de: Klaus Allofs, what is your impression of the EURO 2008?
Klaus Allofs: The impression is a positive one. The stadiums are full, the atmosphere is excellent and all groups are thrilling. It would be unfair to draw a comparison between the Euro and the 2006 World Cup. Back then we had five weeks full of summer heat, now there’s a lot of rain. You can’t plan that.
bundesliga.de: Is there a player or a team that has surprised you?
Allofs: The easy win for Holland against Italy wasn’t to be expected, as was Switzerland’s early exit. I had thought that the home advantage would have a bigger effect. But there have been no big surprises so far, the same goes for individual players. But it’s still early stages. The games that could create new stars are still to come.
bundesliga.de: How do you rate the performances of the Werder players involved?
Allofs: In Clemens Fritz, Torsten Frings and Per Mertesacker we had three Werder players in the German starting line-up. Werder is irreplaceable there looking at the past few years. Our non-German internationals are still very young and have to fight for their place in the team, such as Markus Rosenberg or Hugo Almeida. Martin Harnik has played brave for Austria, we really liked that.
bundesliga.de: Sebastian Prödl will play for Werder next season, is he under special observation?
Allofs: We watch all Werder players at the Euro closely. We’re really looking forward to Sebastian Prödl. We know his great potential, and the Euro surely is a good opportunity for our fans to have a first look at him. I’m sure he’ll do well.
bundesliga.de: You were part of the German team that won the tournament in 1980. What memories do you have?
Allofs: We had an excellent team spirit back then, on and off the pitch. The tournament wasn’t as big as today and the headquarters not as closed. Back then there wasn’t a separation between team and media as it is common today. It was a mixed event with many journalists in the same hotel – ideal for reporters in quests of headlines.
bundesliga.de: You were topscorer in 1980 despite scoring in just one single game, a hat-trick. Who will be topscorer this time around?
Allofs: It would be nice to have a German player. Ahead of the tournament I might have said Luca Toni, but that would be a brave bet following Italy’s poor start.
source: bundesliga.de
