Ruediger wears his heart on his sleeve as Germany marches on

Antonio Ruediger © Gallo Images

Germany defender Antonio Ruediger celebrated a late block in his team's 2-0 Euro 2024 last-16 win over Denmark on Saturday as if he had scored the winner, and his teammates joined him in celebration, demonstrating the German camp's strong collective bond.

Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala scored, and the VAR made headlines, but it was Germany's unstoppable performance that got them over the line and into the quarterfinals against either Spain or Georgia..

Ruediger stated, "It is about results, our display, and we wanted to take our fans with us. We did it from the first minute - you can see as a team, everyone respects their job and fights for each other." For us, it is important to do it as a team rather than an individual," he added..

Though they were outrun by the Germans in the first half, the Danes had the ball in the net in the second, but the goal was ruled out by VAR due to a very minor offside, and minutes later, the Germans were awarded a penalty following an intervention by the video referee.

The Danes were dissatisfied with the officiating, but Ruediger and his team defended their lead bravely, including his last-minute block..

"Everyone who knows football and knows me knows I am an emotional person on the field, and I believe it was an important block, so I felt it was almost like a goal, which is why I celebrated," he explained.

"Keeping a clean sheet is important to me as a defender; we scored two more goals than Denmark, which I am very pleased with."

The Germans' quarterfinal match is scheduled for Friday in Stuttgart.