GRENOBLE, France, June 22 (Xinhua) -- German coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg said here Saturdasy that her team has geared up for the challenges ahead at the FIFA Women's World Cup.
The world's second-ranked Germany outclassed Nigeria 3-0 in round of 16, qualifying for their eighth consecutive quarterfinal at the quadrennial tournament.
"Coaches are never 100 percent happy," said Voss-Tecklenburg. "We are very happy to be in the quarterfinals. It was great performance that we played in very different matches under difficult weather conditions," said Voss-Tecklenburg.
"We have one week to relax. We will probably take one day completely off without football. Next Monday we have to focus on our performance in quarterfinals, and make sure at certain phases of the match we can gain more ground and become more confident without getting frustrated by details," she added.
"Some of our best players are not able to play at the moment, but we still perform in an excellent way, leaving all on the pitch and pushing to our limits. It's valuable. There is no reason that we don't feel happy even though we are quite exhausted."
Dzsenifer Marozsan, who suffered a foot injury in the first group match, came back to the substitute lineup.
"We will substitute her today should we need her, or in extra time. We are happy that she is able to focus on her physical appearance. Being on the bike not comparable to playing on the pitch. She's able to play the next match," Voss-Tecklenburg revealed.
Germany await the winner between Sweden and Canada next Monday.
"We always want to go step by step. The next step is the quarterfinals. It will be a game on a high level, 50-50 no matter which opponent it will be. We have to get prepared, go to next step, and focus on this single game.
"If we managed to get to the final, we would do our best. But we just try to be in a very serious way preparing for our tasks, trying to relax the side and staying realistic. Everyone wants to stay as long as possible. We are ready to take the next challenge and hope to finish in a positive way.
"It was a knockout game. For many players, they face pressure, and we don't know how they are going to handle such situations. That's why I'm especially happy about the outcome. I hope Marozsan back in the game, as she's responsible and able to give confidence to other players," noted Voss-Tecklenburg.
The German striker Alexandra Popp broke the deadlock in her 100th international appearance, and she was voted Player of the Match.
"It's not that important me or someone else scores. It's important to score early and get confidence throughout the game. We got more confidence, and it was an optimistic situation for us," she said.
"We are excited to see what will happen on Monday. Two teams have physical strength. Canada have a high pace and very experienced players, so I'm excited to see how their opponents solve the issues. We already played against Sweden and performed quite well. But that was a friendly, and it's totally different situation in the quarterfinals.
"Both opponents are on a high level. I won't focus on one of them. We will be ready to take the challenge," Voss-Tecklenburg said.
