Germans pessimistic over World Cup chances, poll shows

Just six percent of Germans believe the national football team will win the World Cup in Brazil, a poll showed on Wednesday. While Germany are one of the pre-tournament favourites, just 11 percent of respondents belelive the team can reach the final, according to the poll for Stern magazine. Forty-one percent believe Joachim Loew's team will go out at the semi-final stage and 28 percent said that Germany would only make it as far as the quarter-finals. Four years ago, in a similar survey around five weeks before the competition got underway, nearly 39 percent of Germans said they saw their team taking home the World Cup in South Africa. Loew has taken Germany to at least the semi-finals of Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. He is expected to announce his final World Cup squad for Brazil by June 2. The latest poll was conducted by the Forsa institute on May 8 and 9 among 1,002 people. Source: AFP