Joachim Low eyes tough Turkey test
Joachim Low, the German national team coach, has said he is wary of the threat posed by Guus Hiddink's Turkey team ahead of the two sides' encounter on Friday.
Both teams won their two opening Euro 2012 qualifiers, meaning a win at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin would see either side take a firm hold of the group three matches into the campaign.
Despite the high stakes, Low insisted that it's too early in the group for the game to decide who will end up qualifying for the tournament.
“The match against Turkey is important for us, but not decisive. It’s an important game, like the ones against Russia which helped us qualify for the 2010 World Cup,” the Germany manager said at a press conference, adding that there are several teams besides
Turkey who will challenge for direct qualification.
“This is only the third game of the qualifiers and teams like Belgium and Austria may yet have their say.”
Both teams on six points
Germany enters Friday's game on the back of a 1–0 win over Belgium and a 6–1 thrashing of Azerbaijan in September.
Turkey, who will be facing Germany for the first time since losing 3–2 in the semi-finals of the 2008 European championships, defeated Belgium 3–2 and Kazakhstan 3–0 during the last international break.
Low, who is known to study the tactics of all opponents carefully, said that Turkey has the ability to threaten his young side.
“The Turks are rested, they did not play at the 2010 World Cup and have had more time for preparation. Turkey is like Mainz,” he told German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
"We beat them at Euro 2008, but on that day they were better than us. This team knows how to move the ball quickly, their football is refined, they have six points, they have confidence and we will have to be at our best to beat them."
Tags: