Germany Look Forward To Better Times At EURO'16 In France

A day after Germany qualified for Euro 2016 the players began heading back to their club teams. While all were relieved to have qualified, nobody was happy with Germany's performances in the last two matches.
As the German players left Leipzig to rejoin their teams in the Bundesliga and elsewhere in Europe, they may have felt coach Joachim Löw's words ringing in their ears.
"We won the group and can be happy about that, but I am not satisfied with the last two matches," Löw told reporters after Germany struggled to dispatch of Georgia 2-1 in front of a home crowd of almost 44,000 in Leipzig on Sunday evening.
Hard work needed
"It will take some hard work to get back to the level of performances at the World Cup," Löw added.
So the Germans, who wasted so many chances both against Georgia and Ireland in their last two games, will know what to expect when the national team comes together again for a friendly against Euro 2016 hosts France in St. Denis just outside of Paris next month - a lot of hard work. And maybe a slight tactical change from Löw, who noted after the game that: "Our style of play will remain mostly the same, but there are some details that need adjusting."
Eyes on the prize
For Löw it wasn't a matter of hope but of confidence that by the time next summer rolls around, "Germany will field a very, very good team, which has every chance."
And in an open letter to fans, published on the German FA's (DFB) website on Monday, the captain, Bastian Schweinsteiger, who was confined to the bench in Dublin and Leipzig due to injury, left no doubt about the intentions of the "Mannschaft."
"In 245 days the European Championship will be under way, meaning it’s 275 days until the final," he wrote. "As World Champions, we can set ourselves the highest targets. Our ambition is to be in that final. I can also say: we want the next title."
Achieving that goal would go a long way to helping their fans forget what by Germany's standards were a couple of somewhat disappointing performances in the qualifiers that got them there.
-DW.COM