Ballack says ruthless will to win will bag them Euro 2008 crown

German captain Michael Ballack has insisted that their ruthless will to win is why they will be crowned Euro 2008 champions on Sunday.

London, June 27 : German captain Michael Ballack has insisted that their ruthless will to win is why they will be crowned Euro 2008 champions on Sunday.

Germany was lucky to beat Turkey 3-2 in a dramatic semi-final, with only a last-gasp goal against the run of play getting them through.

But though Chelsea star Ballack admits his team is exhausted and emotionally drained after the victory, he reckoned that the German desire is stronger than ever.

He said: "We're happy to be in the final and that's what counts. You can see what is possible when you have the will to win and we'll be the same in the final, I'm sure of that.

"It's really something special to be in the final here because that doesn't happen every day and now we want to finish the job. First, though, we need a little break to build up our strength because we'll need it," Ballack said.

"The win over Turkey took a lot out of us. The first half was not very good and the second wasn't much better. We knew that it wouldn't be a piece of cake but we showed good morale and brought it home in the end. Now we have a great chance to achieve our goal," he added.

Against Turkey, Germany came nowhere near to producing the kind of performance that stunned Portugal in the last eight.

Statistics prove the Germans never admit they are on a lost cause.

Their win over Turkey was their eighth comeback in the European Championships - the most in the competition's history.

Five of the Germans' eight comebacks have been in the semi-final or final of the Championships, including twice in 1996 when they rallied to beat England in the semi-final and the Czech Republic in the final.

ANI