There are just three more days to go before the European Championships in Austrian and Switzerland get underway and the anticipation amongst Werder’s participants is increasing consistently. For one particular Green-White, Martin Harnik, this tournament will be a very special one as he will get to experience it in his very own home country.
Hello Martin, so, has European Championship fever broken out in an around your team quarters?
Martin Harnik: “Yes. Slowly but surely you can feel it all over the country that the tournament will kick-off soon. There isn’t quite the same euphoria as there was in Germany ahead of the World Cup though. That also says something about the significance of football in Austria. Germany tend to head into such tournaments with the goal of winning the title, not so long ago in Austria they were talking about how we should pass on our tournament participation because we are so bad. I am sure though that once the opening whistle is blown, everyone in Austria will feel the Euro-hype and get behind us.”
And how does it look amongst the players?
Martin Harnik: “For most of us it’s the absolute highlight of our career, an unbelievable experience. To play in the European Championships in your own country is something very special.”
You mentioned the fact yourself that last year, your own ‘Fans’ called for the team to pull out of the competition. Does that still play on you a bit?
Martin Harnik: “That’s all over for us now. Of course it really affected us, and probably more so because of the sort of results we were getting but, particularly in the recent games against Germany and Holland, we showed just what we are capable of. If I remember correctly, just before the World Cup, Germany lost 4:1 in Italy, the press reaction was very negative and then they played a fantastic tournament.”