The Al-Wasl manager tips Joachim Low’s men to go all the way to clinch the 2012 European Champion’s title.
The former Argentina head coach, who is now managing the UAE club, thinks highly of Die Mannschaft. Maradona believes the Germans are a class above the rest.
For him, only Germany are capable of stopping Spain, who are aiming to win their second consecutive European crown. Joachim Low’s men were beaten by the Iberian side, in the final of the 2008 European Championship.
Die Mannschaft, who won all ten of their matches in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, consist of a blend of youth and experience. DFB eleven has some of the most exciting players of the tournament in their ranks. The Argentine legend reserved
special praise for the mercurial midfielder Mesut Ozil.
"Germany, my tournament favourites, won every game of qualification with [Miroslav] Klose, [Lukas] Podolski and [Thomas] Muller up front and the young midfielders [Mesut] Ozil and [Sami] Khedira," he is quoted as saying in an interview.
The Al Wasl manager cites La Roja’s injury problems as the main reason why they will not be able to defend their title. Injuries to David Villa and Carles Puyol, players who have starred for Vicente Del Bosque’s side on many occasions,
will prove to be a massive blow for the Spaniards.
With Fernando Torres performing poorly, La Furia Roja will sorely miss their all-time leading scorer David Villa and will find it hard to score goals against plucky opposition.
"Spain are the favourites but they have lost Puyol and David Villa to injuries" he added.
While Germany, on the other hand, do not have any serious injury concerns apart from Schweinsteiger, who should recover in time to face Portugal for their opening match of the Euro 2012 campaign.
The former Argentina international believes Joachim Low’s men will not find it hard to qualify from their group, which includes Portugal, Netherlands and Denmark.
“[Bastian] Schweinsteiger and his side should qualify [for the knockout stages] without problems,” he further added.
Only time will tell how accurate are Diego’s predictions. Maradona is not the only one to jump on the German bandwagon; many experts have backed Joachim Low’s men to go all the way.
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