Soccer News of Monday, 23 June 2014

Source: goal.com

Hummels: Germany won't play for draw against USA

Mats Hummels says there is no chance of Germany playing for a draw against USA on Thursday, despite both sides requiring only a point to secure qualification from World Cup Group G.

The opening round of the group stage saw Germany defeat Portugal 4-0 and USA see off Ghana 2-1, but two draws on matchday two mean Portugal and Ghana trail the joint-leaders by three points.

Former Germany coach and attacker Jurgen Klinsmann is coaching the Americans, but Hummels insists there is no chance of Joachim Low's side playing for a point.

"We are not a team who plays for draws," the 25-year-old told a press conference. "We're definitely going to play to win and anything else would be totally unfair to all the other teams.

"However, if it's 1-1 in the 91st minute, I won't be dribbling past 4 players."

Germany required a Miroslav Klose header to rescue a point last time out after going 2-1 behind to Ghana - a match Hummels believes exposed some of his team's weaknesses.

"Against Ghana we showed weaknesses that we know are there and want to focus on them," he said. "Personally, I can be satisfied. But after two games relatively little has been done. I think we can improve in general."

The Dortmund stopper also refused to enter into the debate of whether captain Philipp Lahm should play at full-back or in midfield, asserting that is uninterested in exactly where they Bayern Munich man is deployed.

"We don’t discuss the whether we now have a favoured position for Philipp," Hummels continued.

"He does a good job in both positions and for me it is relatively unimportant whether he plays in defence or in midfield."