No one wanted to fall back behind so both teams wated for a mistake from the other.

We are the last remaining country to allow ourselves two breaks in the season. You just have to look at England, Italy and Spain, they play right through the season. We on the other hand take six weeks off in the winter until the end of January, and that is a luxury.

Sometimes, in the dressing room, I think I am in Hollywood.

For example, Michael Jordan earns $100million a year but continues to play basketball and remains a modest human being.

The one who’s really, really impressed me is Benedikt Höwedes because he’s playing out of position. He’s never played at left back before in his life but he’s having a first-rate World Cup. So, the most astonishing player for me is Höwedes.

Football is one of the world's best means of communication. It is impartial, apolitical and universal. Football unites people around the world every day. Young or old, players or fans, rich or poor, the game makes everyone equal, stirs the imagination, makes people happy and makes them sad

The Olympic stadium may have been built only in the early 1970s but it was clear for a long time it had no future. For many reasons it is not good enough for modern football and today's fans.