Experiencing the Olympic Games as an athlete is something very special, an honour granted only to very few people. And to do so as a reigning world champion at the very scene of that triumph, while participating in the Men's Olympic Football Tournament, is a unique state of affairs. That is the situation Matthias Ginter finds himself in.
In 2014 he was part of the Germany squad that lifted the FIFA World Cup™ trophy into the night sky at the legendary Maracana stadium in Rio, even if he did not make an appearance at the tournament. Two years later, the 22-year-old is back in Brazil and eyeing a medal with Germany's Olympic team. However, their path to the podium is not an easy one. Germany had to settle for a point in each of their first two Group C games from draws with Mexico (2-2) and Korea Republic (3-3), who both have four points. Nevertheless, the side showed great strength of character to fight back after going behind on more than one occasion.
"That shows the morale in the team," Ginter told FIFA.com in an exclusive interview. "We never give up and that's how it should be. Even if not everything goes our way, we keep running and fighting. We did that against Korea, just as we had done against Mexico, and fortunately we came away with a point.
"We've got a great deal of quality and a lot of experience," he continued. "What we're lacking a bit is for things to come to us as second nature. That hasn't been possible because we're not training very much due to the fact we have a game every three days. In a manner of speaking that is our training, how we come together. We're just trying to understand each other better and obviously we're hoping that we can still improve."
Ginter is an established Bundesliga player and the defensive all-rounder has already played numerous games for SC Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund. Joachim Low first called him into the senior Germany set-up in March 2014 and he was the youngest member of the country's World Cup squad later that year. That experience should stand Ginter in good stead now as one of the side's leading figures going into their next challenge.
"It always helps to be at major tournaments and to learn what the procedures are," Ginter said. "I try to lead the way, even when things aren't going so well. For example, stepping up after Korea went 3-2 ahead and keeping our heads up. The match is only over when it's over. As long as the final whistle hasn't been blown, anything is still possible. We've seen that time and again. For instance, Portugal didn't play outstanding football, but had a great mentality and deserved to win a title. We'll see how things pan out."
Germany's final Group C encounter on Wednesday against tournament debutants Fiji will take place in a venue that has earned a place in the history of the game. It was in Belo Horizonte that Germany recorded the biggest ever victory in a World Cup semi-final by beating Brazil 7-1, laying the foundation for their subsequent triumph.
"There are a lot of positives associated with the place," Ginter said. "Everyone's happy to be going to such a historic venue. We'll try to get a similar scoreline to that one two years ago," the Freiburg native added with a smile, before sounding a word of warning. Germany must win by at least five goals to be guaranteed a place in the next round. Failure to do so will leave them reliant on results elsewhere and needing to keep an eye on the outcome of the tie between the Taeguk Warriors and El Tri that will take place simultaneously.
"You can't just say 'today we're going to get double digits' before you even play," Ginter said. "Then you'd go crazy if you weren't 1-0 up after five minutes. You have to be patient. Of course we want to win big. We have to in order to be sure of a place the next round."