Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann believes that Germany are poised to beat one of the stronger footballing nations and sees Saturday’s friendly against France as the perfect opportunity to break their winless streak.
Germany are in the midst of a five-year, 15-game run without a victory against a top-ranked international side.
“That’s not a problem because we know we’re in the right direction and will soon be beating a top team,” Klinsmann said.
“If we don’t manage to do it this time, we’ll do it at the World Cup, but the sooner we do it, the better,” the former Germany striker added.
“I’m expecting plenty of dedication and a good performance,” Klinsmann said before the 2006 World Cup hosts’ last match of the year.
“This is a perfect opportunity to find out where we stand before going into the winter break.
“We have a lot of confidence and we want to win that game.”
The last time Germany won against one of the game’s stronger countries was when they beat England 1-0 at Wembley in October 2000.
Klinsmann played down suggestions that France might be tired after their trip to Martinique, where they beat Costa Rica 3-2 in a friendly on Wednesday.
“On Saturday nobody will be thinking about Costa Rica,” Klinsmann said.
“This is a big game and France will be desperately wanting to beat us.”
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