Berlin - AFP
Germany can win the 2014 World Cup, team manager Oliver Bierhoff believes, pointing to the presence of three Bundesliga sides in the Champions League last 16 to support his assertion. "Naturally we want and we can win the title," he said in an interview in the German weekly Focus on Saturday. "We've got lots of young players blessed with enormous potential, we've learned from the mistakes at Euro 2012 and because the international experience we've gained will give our ambitious team an extra boost. "And with the excellent performances of Dortmund, Schalke and Bayern Munich in the Champions League the expectations regarding the Mannschaft have certainly increased." Bierhoff reckons coach Joachim Loew has considerable tactical and strategic possibilities with young attacking players like Mario Goetze, Marco Reus, Mesut Ozil, Toni Kroos, Thomas Mueller and Julian Draxler at his disposal. Germany can "develop a totally new system based on the successful model of Spain or Barcelona", he suggested.