A Germany team should not be afraid going into a tournament. History shows that we can raise the level of our game when it matters.

I want to successfully make the transition from a life in professional sports to another life, without running into major upheavals.

I would never have thought I was capable of sitting on the bench as the number two man. And it showed me that you can really achieve everything in life, even the unthinkable, as long as you're willing to work on yourself a little bit.

I'm not the type who spends his free time in training camp playing with his Playstation or playing cards on trips. The other players thought it was odd: There he is, reading again.

I was so obsessed with football that you could say I was taking the goal home with me at night. And then one day the system fell apart.

Complaining and arguing will not help. We are fully concentrating on the game against the Czechs.

After a decade in a club it's quite normal and necessary that you seek and take a new challenge.