Bastian Schweinsteiger

Bastian Schweinsteiger has vowed to put the bitter disappointment of losing the Champions League final behind him to help Germany in their bid to lift a fourth European crown at Euro 2012.

Having last won the European Championships in 1996, Germany face a tough challenge in Group B alongside Holland, Portugal and Denmark.

Schweinsteiger is central to the plans of Germany coach Joachim Loew at the Euro but the 27-year-old is still nursing the after-effects of his crucial miss in the Champions League penalty shoot-out.

The Bayern Munich star could only watch in horror when his spot-kick hit the post in the final a fortnight ago and Chelsea went on to claim a 4-3 win on penalties at Munich's Allianz Arena.

It shattered Bayern's dreams of becoming the first team to win the Champions League at home and images of a distraught Schweinsteiger pulling his shirt over his head in dismay perfectly portrayed the team's deep disappointment.

Schweinsteiger is still carrying a calf strain from that night and he admits the match has also taken a mental toll as he looks forward to Germany's Euro 2012 opener against Portugal on June 9.

"You try and get it out of your head but you still think back to that game," he told German daily Bild. "It's not easy but when you have a new task to focus on that makes it easy. The European Championships are a new beginning."

In the moments directly after the defeat, a stunned Schweinsteiger missed the out-stretched hand of Germany's new president Joachim Gauck, who was offering a commiserating handshake.

Horrified at the idea of their star snubbing the president, Bayern put out a hasty statement in which Schweinsteiger apologised but there were few in football-mad Germany who failed to fathom the depth of "Schweini's" despair.

"I could not at that moment, after this massive disappointment, see what was going on around me," admitted Schweinsteiger. "I was desperately disappointed, it was like I was paralysed."

Schweinsteiger is coming off the back of a tough season after breaking his collarbone in November, then tearing ankle ligaments in February.

The linchpin in Germany's midfield, he works hard to track back in defence but is often the starting point for the Germans attack.

He was absent when Germany were beaten 2-1 by France in Bremen in February and also last Saturday when they suffered a shock 5-3 defeat to Switzerland in Basel.

Despite his misery in Munich, Schweinsteiger is amongst a core group of first-choice players key to Germany's chances of bringing home the Euro 2012 title from Kiev in the final on July 1.

With 23 goals in 90 appearances for Germany, he was a key member of the teams that finished third at both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, as well as second at Euro 2008.

Loew said he has no doubts the events of Munich will be quickly forgotten by Bayern's stars once the Germans begin their assault on the European crown.

"A new target has been fixed in their minds and superimposed all the negative thoughts," said Germany coach Loew. "I'm sure they will do anything for the title.

"I know Bastian Schweinsteiger and Philipp Lahm now the last few years and I know how professional and successful they are. They can flip the switch again. All Bayern players can do that."