Schweinsteiger grabs Germany chance

Bastian Schweinsteiger seized his chance in Stuttgart last night and really came of age.

Dropped from the Germany team for the World Cup semi-final against Italy, Schweinsteiger missed out on what would arguably have been the biggest game of his short footballing career.

But back in the side for the third-place play-off clash with Portugal the Bayern Munich midfielder played the game of his life to give Germany the bronze medal.

Two stunning goals and a third shot, which Armando Petit deflected into his own net, made ‘Schweini’ the obvious choice for man of the match and the 21-year-old explained how much he enjoyed the occasion.

“I was so happy with the game in Stuttgart in front of a great crowd,” he said.

“From when we were welcomed in the hotel, it was like we had won the World Cup.”

Having opened the scoring with a fizzing 25-yard effort which bent one way and the other on its way past Ricardo’s flailing hand, Schweinsteiger revealed how he hoped his free kick would take a fortunate deflection in for the second.

He said: “We had done a lot of free-kicks and none had gone how we had wished…I saw they put just one man in the wall so I thought I would try and hit the ball powerfully towards the far post and maybe one of our players could get a leg in. Luckily, a Portugal player did that.”

After celebrating finishing third in the World Cup, the focus will turn to the future, which Schweinsteiger believes is very bright for Germany.

“We have a young team and that is always a good sign,” he explained. “We have all got room for improvement and we all will get better.

“Of course we want to qualify for the European Championships, but I think if things continue like this, then we could be tasting success at the next World Cup.”

Schweinsteiger admitted the only man who may not have been so happy in Stuttgart was Bayern general manager Uli Hoeness.

Having propelled himself into the world spotlight, Schweini may have become a target for big clubs around Europe, but although he admits to “one day” wanting to play abroad “that day is not today”.

He added: “I have a contract with Bayern until 2009 and I intend to fulfil it.”