Germany's gentlemen mountaineers reach final peak

Germany's decision to give their campaign the theme of a "mountain tour" provoked plenty of scorn but with the final summit now in sight their team manager said the image had had a powerful effect.

Players and coaches dressed up as gentleman mountaineers for a pre-tournament TV advert, the squad announcement was made at the Zugspitz, Germany's highest peak, and Oliver Bierhoff installed a large poster of a mountain in the team hotel.

"Calling the tournament a mountain tour was criticised by some people," Bierhoff said at a press conference today, two days before Germany take on Spain in the final.

"The players also smirked when they saw the big poster in the hotel, showing the different peaks we had to scale here.

"But they have all now accepted the image. Mountain tours are about helping your team mates, and accepting their help.

"We have had no conflicts among the squad. We are all pulling together."

Centre-back Christoph Metzelder agreed that the theme was appropriate for the campaign in Austria and Switzerland.

"I think it was well chosen," Metzelder said. "To keep to the theme, you can say we've had some steep climbs but we've made it this far."