Lahm wants Germany to show courage against Spain in Euro quarters

Euro 2024 tournament director Philipp Lahm hopes that the German team shows courage and says the team has the means to hurt Spain in their quarter-final match later on Friday.

"I believe that the Spanish team is ahead of the German team at the moment. But we have means with which we can hurt them," Lahm told daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

"I hope that we want a lot of possession, that we can play forwards and use our creative players. Then Spain will have respect. We don't have to hide from Spain."

Spain have won all four matches at the tournament and have not lost against Germany at a big event in 36 years. They have won their only two knock-out games, the Euro 2008 final and 2010 World Cup semi-final.

Lahm was on the German team in both of those matches before captaining them to the 2014 World Cup title.

He said that both sides have "very, very big respect for each other" going into the game in Stuttgart.

"The Germans for the Spaniards because they have played the most convincing football so far. But the Spaniards also for the Germans because they have the home advantage. They know what to expect," Lahm said.

Lahm said that Spain have "outstanding players, but they also have this clear way of playing. They can do more than just play possession football. They can also fall back from time to time. And they can counter-attack."

Asked about his preferred pairing for the July 14 final, Lahm that that he would "of course" like to see the German team there.

But he added: "As tournament director I don't really care. I know it will be an incredible atmosphere, no matter who is in the final."