The German team manager plays down favorite’s label and admits that his side cannot afford to be complacent.
Joachim Low’s men find themselves in the Group of death, but the bookies have slashed their odds to 3-1 and are second favorites to finish the tournament as Champions. Last time the Germans reached a final of a major tournament
was back in 2008, where they were narrowly defeated by Spain, who went on to lift the European Cup.
Pundits and bookies have both tipped Spain and Germany to lock horns in a repeat of the 2008 Final. However Bierhoff remains grounded, and talks up the chances of other contenders in the tournament.
"Spain belong to the big favorites. Everybody talks about Spain and Germany, and how we will meet in the final," he was quoted as saying in an interview.
The former Germany international reserved special praise for Netherlands and France, who he considers should also be considered favoruites to lift the trophy given their current form and the amount of talent they have in their
ranks. Les Blues are on a 20 match unbeaten run and recently won 2-1 against the Die Mannschaft in Bremen.
"I can only advise to remain calm, though. Netherlands are very strong, and France have not lost in the past 20 matches” he added.
The former AC Milan man took some pressure off his team, by discussing their performance in the recent international friendlies. The DFB eleven lost 5-3 and 2-1 to Switzerland and France respectively. The losses exposed some of
their defensive flaws, and the manager insists that they still have a lot of work to do if they are to progress let alone lift the trophy.
"However, we've also shown during our preparations that we're not there yet. We are working on our flaws. I know that this team has a lot of potential" he further added.
The Germans face a tough task of qualifying for the latter stages of Euro 2012, as they are paired with some of the toughest opposition which includes the likes of Netherlands and Portugal. Both of these teams are no pushovers
and possess star studded squads which are capable of causing Joachim Low’s men considerable amount of trouble.
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