HERZOGENAURACH, Germany, June 23 - The daunting
prospect of trying to stop Brazil's high-voltage attack makes
Per Mertesacker nervous, the young Germany defender said on
Thursday.
Germany meet Brazil in the Confederations Cup semi-final on
Saturday in Nuremberg.
The towering 20-year-old Hanover 96 centre back has become a
mainstay in Germany's defence even though he has just 10 caps in
his nine months in the team.
"I'm looking forward to the Brazil match but I'm also a bit
nervous," Mertesacker told a news conference, referring to the
Brazil attack featuring Robinho, Ronaldinho, Kaka and Adriano.
"I always get a little nervous before matches," he said.
"But then at the decisive moment it's important not to show
any nerves. I respect them, but I'm not afraid. It's important
to make the strikers respect you."
Germany's young and somewhat experimental defence has come
under intense media criticism at home for some shaky moments,
giving up three goals to Australia before they shut down Tunisia
and yielded two against Argentina.
In friendlies before the tournament, Germany conceded a late
goal in a 2-2 draw against Russia and they were down 1-0 against
Northern Ireland before winning 3-1.
But Mertesacker, with near flawless performances so far, has
been largely spared the criticism aimed mainly at Robert Huth
and Thomas Hitzlsperger. He said, however, he was hurt by it.
"It wasn't easy dealing with all the criticism," Mertesacker
said. "It was pretty strong stuff, especially against Robert.
We've got to pull together. Fortunately the coach has kept his
confidence in us.
"We showed against Argentina that we can withstand top teams
even if we have a very young average age in defence."
Germany, who beat Australia 4-3 and Tunisia 3-0, drew 2-2
with Argentina to secure top place in their group. Argentina
meet Mexico in Sunday's semi-final in Hanover.
Brazil won their opening game 3-0 against Greece but then
went down 1-0 against Mexico before drawing 2-2 against Japan.