Germany manager Jurgen Klinsmann says the World Cup hosts are enthusiastic ahead of the third place game with Portugal whom their coach Luiz Felipe Scolari stresses this tie shouldn't be played. Klinsmann's side left their nation suffering an absolute disappointment after a last-gasp 2-0 loss against Italy in the semi-finals. Although their initial goal was to appear in the final, the German team believe that they should fight to snatch the bronze medal. "We all hoped that we would stay in Berlin and play the Final, but unfortunately, that didn't work out," Klinsmann told FIFAworldcup.com on Friday. "Despite this, we'll be going all out, and the team will give everything they've got. We're playing for third place, in a World Cup. Germany, the 2002 runners-up, were among the favorites to win the tournament after classy performances in the group stage that saw them win their three games. They had a tough test against Argentina in the quarter-finals when they were one goal down before equalizing in the closing stages of the game and going on to qualify on penalties. Germany almost repeated the feat against the Italians in the last four but Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero scored in the 119th and 120th minutes respectively to stun the home crowd.
Now, Klinsmann believes his side have to give the fans something to cheer about. "We've just got to summon up all our remaining strength and give the fans another great match to enjoy," he said. Klinsmann's opposite number, on the other hand, doesn't agree with the notion. "From the business perspective, maybe it's a good thing," Scolari was quoted as saying by BBC Sport. "On our side of the fence, this game represents suffering, rather than a match you are happy to take part in," added Scolari, who was in charge of Brazil when they beat Germany 2-0 in the 2002 final match. Portugal were the dark horse of the tournament, clinching nine points in the group stage and ousting Holland and England respectively in the knock-out stages to book a place in the semis for the first time since 1966. But they clashed with former champions France and Zinedine Zidane's penalty ended the Portuguese bid for their first World Cup final ever. "After losing to France, it's very difficult to motivate the players for this," the Brazilian manager said. "It's difficult to stop our players and ourselves thinking about what we missed out on. You think about what you've lost and not about what you might win."
