BASEL: Germany's Philipp Lahm said his 90th-minute winner against Turkey was the most important of his career, but was less ecstatic about his overall performance in Wednesday's 3-2 victory in the Euro 2008 semifinal.
The 24-year-old defender was involved at both ends of the pitch during the dramatic closing stages, first making a mistake that allowed Turkey to equalize for 2-2 in the 86th minute.
The left-back made amends four minutes later, though, combining neatly with Thomas Hitzlsperger to fire home a winner that also brought him the man of the match award.
"I thought my performance was OK, but I think there are other games where I have more deserved such awards," Lahm told a news conference.
"I didn't look so good with that equalizer, but as a team we know that you have to keep believing in your abilities.
"You can lose out in a tackle like I did before the Turkey goal, but you should never lose belief in yourself and your team.
"To go 2-2 down just before the end and then produce the winner, and all in a European Championships semifinal, I can certainly say it's the most important goal I've ever scored.
"I couldn't tell you what went through my head. There was just too much emotion."
Lahm said he had given little thought to Sunday's final opponent, the winner of Thursday's second semifinal between Spain and Russia.
"I'm just happy to be in the final and we'll take whoever comes our way," he said. "All we want now is to bring the title back to Germany."
Lucky to reach final
Germany coach Joachim Loew said his side was lucky to book a place in the Euro 2008 final.
"Turkey were very strong technically and there were sections of the game when we couldn't get a grip," Loew said after watching his team fight back from conceding an early goal before securing victory with Lahm's goal.
"We saw how Turkey had come back three times at this tournament to turn games completely on their head, so we knew what was coming. In the last few minutes we were trembling but we were lucky enough to score in the 90th minute.
"We were pretty convinced then that they wouldn't be able to come back for a fourth match."
Loew said he had considered bringing on a second striker and reducing his five-man midfield in an atttempt to reverse Turkey's early domination.
"Turkey were combining excellently in midfield, though, so I thought it was the right choice to stick with one forward and not sacrifice our strength in midfield," the coach added.
"We've got a winner's mentality and want to win the title," said Loew. "There's a lot of joy and happiness tonight.
"Tomorrow we've got to start getting ready for the final. We've got to do a lot better.
"We've had some great matches in this tournament, one or two that weren't so good, but we've made it into the final.
"When we've come so far we obviously want to win and we're going to bring the winner's mentality into the match."
Proud despite defeat
Central Istanbul resounded to proud chants of "Turkey, Turkey" early on Thursday as Turks waved national flags aloft despite their country's defeat against Germany.
After a raucous party atmosphere across Turkey's largest city before and during the match on Wednesday evening, the thousands of fans gathered in bars and city squares were still bitterly disappointed after their team's impressive performance.
"We were defeated by our own speciality," said Erkan Teke, a 24-year-old waiter, in reference to the last-minute goal scored by Germany.
Turkey had made its way to the semifinals through late goals scored against Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Croatia.
The Turks looked to have repeated the feat on Wednesday when Semih Senturk leveled for Turkey in the 86th minute. But then cam Lahm's game-winner.
"It is the fate of Germany to win at football," Teke said, adding the common view that if depleted Turkey had a full squad it would have beaten the Germans.
Many said Turkey's performance had reinforced the country's success in the World Cup in 2002 when it reached the semifinals.
"The Germans are known for their discipline and the Brazilians are known for their technique and now the Turks will be known for their fighting spirit," said 21-year-old university student Faurk Buyukyoran.
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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