Hamann 'not bothered' about England 5-1 win
Former Liverpool and Germany midfielder Dietmar Hamann says his country was 'not that bothered' about losing 5-1 at home to England in 2001.
Sven-Goran Eriksson's side famously came from behind to thrash Rudi Voller's outfit at the Olympic Stadium in Munich and take charge of a group that saw only the winners automatically qualify for the 2002 World Cup.
England did eventually top the standings, but only thanks to David Beckham's last-gasp free-kick against Greece at Old Trafford, which secured the point they needed.
However, the Germans comfortably negotiated their play-off against Ukraine, triumphing 5-2 on aggregate.
And they would go on to reach the World Cup final eight months later, losing to Brazil, who had eliminated England at the last-eight stage.
Speaking exclusively in the February 2012 issue of FourFourTwo magazine, out now, Hamann insists that the 5-1 drubbing did not leave any lasting scars as Germany still went on to reach their goal of securing qualification.
“At the end of the day it was only a qualifier. We were disappointed to lose the game but we weren’t that bothered," he says.
"You have to see the bigger picture, to qualify for the World Cup, which both teams did. I think after that game England thought they had won the World Cup. They hadn’t."
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Earlier in that qualification campaign, Hamann's goal at a soggy Wembley Stadium seperated the sides in what was the final match at the national stadium before it's redevelopment.
But again, the 38-year-old played down what proved an iconic moment in English football history, explaining it meant more to Germany as a whole than him individually.
"Scoring that goal at Wembley didn’t really change anything for me," he says. "The most important thing for us was to beat a big team. We hadn’t beaten a big team for a number of years.
"It was a big turning point for us. People had lost faith in the national team and that made them start believing in us again."
Read the full One-on-One interview with Dietmar Hamann, in which he talks about 'that night' in Istanbul, leaving Bayern Munich for Newcastle, swapping Bolton for Manchester City without kicking a ball and peeing on Pepe Reina in theFebruary 2012 issue of FourFourTwo magazine.
It also asks 'What now? for Sir Alex Ferguson and features transsexual internationals, football's biggest con-man, the death of the tackle and a 23-page guide to the Africa Cup of Nations. Subscribe now!
Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.