10 July,2016 10:16 AM IST | | PA Sport
Bastian Schweinsteiger has thanked Germany's fans for their support during Euro 2016 and shares their frustration at not being in the final
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Bastian Schweinsteiger has thanked Germany's fans for their support during Euro 2016 and shares their frustration at not being in the final.
Bastian Schweinsteiger
The Germany captain may well have played his last European Championships, with reports he is considering immediate retirement from the international game, but he did not touch on that in an open letter posted on the German Football Association's Facebook page.
The Manchester United midfielder was penalised for handball to concede the penalty that brought the first of Antoine Griezmann's two goals as hosts France eliminated the world champions.
"Dear fans, I have one word: pity," he wrote. "Our dream has not been fulfilled. We haven't reached the final and there will be no magic night to follow the one in Rio.
"Sadly, we lacked something decisive against France: the luck you need. But defeats are part of the game, even if they hurt. And of course we can acknowledge the performance of our opponents and we can honestly congratulate the France from the bottom of our hearts for reaching the final.
"I am nevertheless proud of what we have achieved. We stuck to our style of playing football. In the past seven weeks, we've grown tighter as a team and this unity is what made us so strong two years ago in Brazil, and it was the same here in France. We are one team."
