LONDON: Germany coach Joachim Loew said yesterday that he expects France to overcome the odds by prevailing in their World Cup qualifying play-off against Ukraine.
France approach today’s second leg in Paris needing to overturn a 2-0 deficit from Friday’s away leg to avoid failing to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1994.
“I was very surprised that a star-studded team such as France with the likes of (Karim) Benzema, (Samir) Nasri and (Franck) Ribery had such difficulties against Ukraine and actually lost the game,” he said, ahead of Germany’s friendly against England at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday.
“If Ukraine get a good result from France, then they’ve deserved that ticket to Brazil, but my gut feeling is that at the end of the day, France will be able to turn things around.
“I think France will go out very aggressively and do their level best to make it to Brazil.” AFP
