Hamburg, Oct 13 (DPA) Germany coach Joachim Loew believes his side is capable of winning the World Cup next year in South Africa but he was not making any predictions.
“The basis for a World Cup win is good,” Loew told Tuesday’s Bild newspaper.
“Whether it is enough for the title in South Africa is something I can’t say today. A lot of short-term or current factors will come into play.”
Germany play Finland in Hamburg Wednesday in their final World Cup qualifier having sealed their berth for next year’s tournament with a 1-0 victory over Russia in Moscow on Saturday.
Asked whether Germany could now go on to win the World Cup, Loew said: “I’ll put it like this: We have shown that we are capable of pulling out everything in games when it counts – apart from in the European Championship final (last year) against the then superior Spanish.”
Loew said it was “of course my aim” to win next year’s tournament but “to do that everything would have to go optimally.”
The 2010 World Cup will be “the most interesting of all time”, he forecast.
“The Africans are good, they are playing for the first time on their own continent. I think an African team is capable of reaching the World Cup semi-finals,” he said.
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