Germans relishing chance of Dutch revenge in Euro 2020 qualifiers

DUBLIN: The Germany camp is relishing the chance to exact some revenge on neighbours the Netherlands after the European powerhouses were drawn in the same Euro 2020 qualifying group on Sunday.

“We are happy that we have the chance of revenge against Holland,” admitted Germany team director Oliver Bierhoff in Dublin.

Germany has plummeted from first to 16th in the FIFA world rankings since June.

“We know our journey back to the top of the world rankings means we will meet some tough opponents on the way,” added Bierhoff.

“That’s the only way to distinguish yourself and it (the draw) could have been worse for us.”

The Dutch and the Germans are the clear favourites in Group C, which also contains Northern Ireland, Estonia and Belarus, with the qualifying matches to start in March and finish next November.

Germany leaked a late equaliser to the Dutch in Gelsenkirchen in last month’s 2-2 draw after the Oranje hammered the Germans 3-0 in Amsterdam in October.

“We are happy to play against Holland again,” said Germany head coach Joachim Loew.

“They will be interesting games which we can assume will be sold out,”

“It’s a reasonable group, we know our own strengths and will be confident, but we don’t want to be presumptuous.

“The Dutch and the Germans are the favourites and are the ones who should normally qualify.”

However, Loew knows very little went ‘as normal’ for the Germans in 2018.

After exiting the group stages following a disastrous World Cup campaign,Germanywererelegated from their Nations League group last month by defeats to France and the Netherlands.

The Germans lost six times in 2018 - a record in a calendar year - denting Loew’s golden reputation and leaving fans demanding his resignation.

Loew, 58, has finally dropped several 2014 World Cup winners including Jerome Boateng, Sami Khedira and Thomas Mueller.

His new youthful attack of Manchester City winger Leroy Sane, Bayern Munich’s Serge Gnabry and RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner has scored four of Germany’s last five goals.

Loew says his goals for 2019 are simple, “qualifying (for Euro 2020) and giving the young players space, so they can develop and take on more responsibilities”. — AFP