2014 world champion Philipp Lahm sees the German national soccer team as one of the extended favorites at the World Cup in Qatar.
“Of course, when you play against the top nations, it gets tighter at some point. Especially when it comes to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals, it’s always tight and it’s difficult to predict. But we’re always one of the favourites,” said Lahm Monday evening in Berlin.
Before the draw on Friday (5:55 p.m. / ARD) in Doha, the former DFB captain did not want to name any opponents and recalled the EM 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. “In a very difficult group with Holland, Portugal and Denmark, we marched through with nine points. That wasn’t enough for the title,” said Lahm: “Preparing for a tournament like this is extremely important so that a team can get used to it and each other trusted.”
The new DFB President Bernd Neuendorf also had a hard time with the wishless on the sidelines of the Sepp Herberger Awards ceremony in the capital.
“It’s really difficult to speak of easy or feasible opponents these days. It’s a very balanced field,” said the 60-year-old: “I’ve also seen the Canadians who have now qualified. There’s huge development everywhere I’m happy about every opponent and see what that means for us.”