Germany not Euro 2020 favourites: Kroos
GERMANY have improved considerably this year after their 2018 nightmare but are not a title contender for Euro 2020, according to veteran midfielder Toni Kroos.
“No. We have to be realistic, but that’s just my opinion as things stand,” the Real Madrid player Kroos said in an interview with the website of the German football federation published yesterday.
“But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have big ambitions for the tournament. We want to have our say and we want to go far.”
Kroos suggested that things could look different if winger Leroy Sane and Niklas
Suele can return for the tournament from severe knee injuries, and if the team prepares well.
“We as a team have to make good use of the time between now and the tournament. There are two or three teams a step ahead of us, but that doesn’t mean it will be the case come June,” Kroos said.
Germany are in a rebuilding process after going out as title holders in the World Cup group stage and finishing last in their Nations League group last year.
Kroos said that despite progress more consistency is needed to became a major factor again at big events.
“I think we’ve improved a lot this year, but in a lot of games, we were unable to maintain a good level for the whole 90 minutes,“” he said.
“At a tournament, if you want to be successful, that’s exactly what you have to do. You cannot afford to ever let your game drop below a certain standard – even a bad half hour can mean you’re out.”
Germany have been drawn into a tough group with world champions France and defending champions Portugal at Euro 2020 but can play all three group games at home in Munich.
“It’s great to have home games. I hope we can use this to our advantage,” he said. – dpa