Germany manager Joachim Loew claims that he is happy with the outcome of the World Cup 2018 qualification draw. Qualification to this competition will be an extensive process with almost every team from the world competing for a position. Despite being the reigning holders of the World Cup, Germany will have to go through a qualification phase just like everybody else. They recently learned that their stage opponents will be the Czech Republic, Norway, Northern Ireland, San Marino, and Azerbaijan. Thus, they have avoided heavyweights like the France and Italy. There was a possibility of being grouped alongside such tough opponents.

Loew finally proved to the World Cup 2014 that he is a manager capable of winning trophies. The 55-year-old had raised a lot of doubts in recent years after his repeated failures on the final stages of the tournament. Since taking over from Jurgen Klinsmann,Loew had guided Germany to the finals of the Euro 2012. The 55-year-old, though, warned his team against complacency about qualifying for the World Cup. The national team still have the core players who were responsible for the World Cup triumph. The big task forLoew will be to find replacements for the likes of Miroslav Klose, who have retired from international action.

“We have an interesting group against good opponents.And we are of course pleased with the draw. It’s clear that we want to be, as a world champion, group winners and we are the favourites.The Czech Republic, Norway and Northern Ireland are very ambitious and have always had very good results in recent years.Group A, with France, Sweden and the Netherlands and Group G, with Italy and Spain, are interesting and extremely exciting,” said Loew. Germany will also have to have one eye on the upcoming Euro 2016 that starts in the summer.