Bayern Munich’s Niklas Süle can look at Germany’s group and see the danger that lies within.
France and Portugal are two potent offenses that could cause any defense trouble. When it comes to how to defend that type of firepower, Süle insisted it would take a group effort.
“You can only do it as a team. We need to attack and defend with 11 players. Going up against Kylian Mbappe in a one-on-one over a large space is obviously difficult,” said Süle to the DFB website. “If you defend as a team and believe you won’t concede, while playing attacking football, it’s not too important who is playing for them. If we play as a team, we’ve got the players to hurt opponents, too.”
Aside of just its offense, Süle also understands that France is a complete squad and knows the 2018 World Cup winners should be considered the favorites.
“As reigning World Cup winners, France are obviously one of the favorites. They’ve got huge depth in their squad and a number of world-class players,” Süle said. “Portugal, the current holders, are also a really good team. We’ll know where we’re at after playing those two sides in the group stage. We have to cope with these teams if we want to be successful.”
Even with what appear to be steep odds against his squad, Süle is confident that the Germany national team can holds it own. When asked where The team might fall, Süle said Germany should be among the squads considered to contend.
“Germany are always one of the favorites,” said the 25-year-old. “Starting off such a hard group with a positive result against the world champions France would give us a real boost and that could be really important for the rest of the tournament. As a result, our first game is vital. The group could help us by giving us some confidence. We shouldn’t fear teams with the squad we’ve got. We’ve got the quality to achieve a lot.”
–
