Klinsmann: No time for friendship in Germany clash

Jun 23, 2014 2:51:00 AM  The two sides meet in Recife on Thursday knowing a draw will see them both progress to the round of 16 but the USA coach insists his team are gunning for the win.

USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann insists there will be no friendship when he takes on former assistant and current Germany coach Joachim Low in Thursday's Group G crunch clash.

Both sides know a draw will be enough to progress to the World Cup's round of 16 after USA were denied a famous win over Portugal by Silvestre Varela's later header on Sunday.

The match will also be the first time Klinsmann faces his home nation - and the team he managed from 2004 to 2006 - but the 49-year-old is adamant there will be no time for sentiment.

"Jogi [Low] is doing his job, I’ll do mine," he said. "My job is to do everything to get us in the round of 16. There is no time for friendship calls, it's business.

"The USA is known to give everything in every game. We have that fighting spirit and energy and determination. We will go to Recife with ambition to beat Germany, that’s our goal. I’m pretty confident."

USA were moments away from heading clear at the top of Group G when Varela equalised, but Klinsmann remained philosophical about the moment of brilliance which denied them victory.

"People who were here will talk about this game for a long time," he added. "We would have been happy to get four points from the first two games, so to concede a goal in the last second is a bummer we have to swallow.

"It was an outstanding game, we discussed it at half-time and said 'It's all good fellas'. We could have added a third or fourth goal with the chances we had and it ended in a tie. Overall it has been an amazing day.

"We are not made for draws unless it happens like this. Both [Germany and USA] want to win the group, so we want to go into this game, recover fast and get three points, and that would put us in the driving seat for the round of 16. 

"Our goal is to go in the next round so we will do everything in our capabilities to do that. We are going to take our game to Germany and give them a real fight. We are capable of surprising even more teams in this tournament."

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