Schalke's World Cup winning captain Benedikt Höwedes believes his side needs to be "more savvy in certain situations" (© imago)
Schalke's World Cup winning captain Benedikt Höwedes believes his side needs to be "more savvy in certain situations" (© imago)

Höwedes: 'We were too selfish'

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Hanover - There were feelings of elation and disappointment on both sides of the fence following Hannover 96's 2-1 victory over FC Schalke 04 on Saturday.

FC Schalke 04

bundesliga.com rounds up the reaction to the Reds' come-from-behind success at the HDI Arena.

Benedikt Höwedes: Hannover got a second wind after equalising and turned the game on its head. That shouldn't have happened. We need to be more savvy in certain situations and maybe break up the play with a tactical foul. We weren't close enough to our opponents and didn't achieve what we wanted to. We were sometimes a bit too selfish up front and didn't put the team first. Now we have to stay calm and prepare ouselves for the next match.

Julian Draxler: That was a disappointing defeat. The match was evenly balanced until half time but after the break we were by far the better team and we deserved to go in front. After they equalised we caved in and conceded the second straight away. We can only blame ourselves for the defeat. Over the next few days it'll be important to build up our self-confidence again and put in a good performance against Bayern.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar: It wasn't a question of fitness that we lost the game, it was mental. We'd all trained well, but we didn't concentrate enough. We need to be more clever in games and not let ourselves be taken apart by one pass. I still don't think we deserved to lose, though.

Hannover 96


Leon Andreasen: It was a very close game - we'd spoken about that beforehand and you saw it in the first half in particular. We knew we'd have chances to score though and thankfully we made the most of them. We showed plenty of fight and that's what makes Hannover 96 so strong.

Miiko Albornoz: Today was unbelievable. To win my first match for my new team is a dream come true. I've always wanted to play in one of the best leagues in the world, and now I'm here playing for 96. We've managed to beat a very good opponent on the opening day. Things couldn't be better.

Ron-Robert Zieler: It was a hugely important win today. I can't remember the last time we lost the opening game of the season and it's great that we managed to get the victory again today, but we mustn't forget that there's still a long way to go. We can celebrate tonight, but we have to keep working hard.