Germany manager Joachim Low praised substitute Bastian Schweinsteiger after the Manchester United midfielder saw his hard work result in a crucial goal against the Ukraine.
Germany cruised to a 2-0 victory in their Group C opener at the European Championship, with Schweinsteiger adding the second in stoppage time after coming on in the 90th minute on Sunday.
Speaking after the match, Low was pleased for the longtime Bayern Munich man, who had battled a knee injury for most of 2016.
“I’m very happy for Bastian Schweinsteiger — after all the work he’s done in recent months, he scored the decisive goal,” Low said. “It will help him and the team a lot.”
Germany left the result in doubt before Schweinsteiger’s strike from a Mesut Ozil cross. While aware of the issues that need fixing, Low was satisfied with the performance of his world champions.
“We ran a lot in the first half but we seemed to have some problems in the transition, we lost a lot of balls,” Low said.
“We improved that in the second half, passed the ball quickly and dominated the game. But it was not easy against a strong defence and dangerous counter-attacks. But we found a solution in the second half and that’s why I’m quite satisfied.
“I was not surprised by Ukraine, because I’ve seen them over the last two years. It’s a better squad than in 2012. They’re very strong physically and in the air, and very fast on the wings. They can be dangerous to any opposition.
“[Mats] Hummels and [Antonio] Rudiger were injured so we had to change our defence, but I thought they got stronger during the game, we were more compact and could press against the strikers.
“It was not too easy in the beginning but it got better throughout the game. It’s good to have Jerome Boateng as your neighbour in defence.”
Schweinsteiger said: “Everything’s fine. My injury has healed, I feel good.
“It was a long way for a celebration, I am a little bit out of breath.
“It was incredible. You could have only wished for such a thing to happen.”
