The player can only compete with the best internationally when they’ve committed themselves to this goal. They have to be properly supported until that point.

You have to work more than your adversary.

We can only win by giving everything and being ready to defeat the adversary with fiery aggression.

The player can only compete with the best internationally when they’ve committed themselves to this goal. They have to be properly supported until that point.

We coaches have to learn how to deal with that: How do I get to each one best – with a talk, with video analysis? And what sort of tone? We need our own coaches for that. The sports psychologist coaches me too.

If the national coach lets decisions be made from outside, he’s lost the team.

The ’54 World Cup was the first time the people got the recognition back after the second World War and felt like they are proud of something you know it brought people back together and you know now we can keep our heads up again.

And then ’74 as I mentioned and then the 1990 world cup was our team was the team of the reunification you know, so we were the team for both sides of Germany so now, you know throughout the last 16 years, we’ve melted together. And now comes the next milestone.

As far as knowledge goes I’ve come a long way.

In 16, 17 years as a pro I was used to the head coach doing it alone. He might have asked his people for advice, but he made the decisions on his own. In order to learn quickly I couldn’t do that.

Sure I should have been at the Fifa workshop for example, but I had personal reasons for not being there and looking back saying that it was a mistake for me not being there I would take the same decision because the personal situation has higher priority than a workshop.

I think when there’s enough will and aggression, there’s no shortage of talent either.

I train for one-and-a-half hours every day in order to keep my energy level high.

We want to start them thinking that they’re responsible for their own career.

Personally, I need a high level of physical fitness in order to feel at ease.

Once the World Cup preparations begin there will hardly be an opportunity to do so, since we’ll have to put all our energy into the team. We coaches have a list of priorities and dealing with the media isn’t in the top five.

I had to delegate authority to the people on my staff. That means you shave away the hierarchy.

The young generation has a different curiosity that is more visual.

Based on history the expectations are simply the highest, it kind of could become a burden for you or it could be something that you are really proud of, you know so I take the second one.

I always stressed that I didn’t have coaching experience, but that I did have a deadline: June 9.