Germany not looking at World Cup hat-trick: Skipper Muller

NEW DELHI: Defending Champions Germany may be favourites for a hat-trick of World Cup title, but skipper Max Muller says he would like to weigh their chances realistically as his team is fairly inexperienced.

Muller said they do not want to take any undue pressure because the team is going through a re-building phase. In fact, he sees Australia — the team they beat in both the 2002 and 2006 finals — as strong favourites.

“We are not thinking of becoming World Champions third time on the trot with a new team. It will take a couple of years to build an international team. We lost a lot of finals in the last couple of years, but that’s part of the rebuilding process.”

“We don’t have any pressure as we are rebuilding the team. That’s why we don’t say we are here to win the World Cup. A semifinal appearance would be a good finish for us,” Muller said on Friday.

Muller said Australia look good to win the World Cup as they have a very strong side.

“Australia are the favourites. They are playing quite well. The have grown in strength in the last three to four years. You can see it in during practice sessions. You can feel they are determined and confident of winning the World Cup.”

Germany will be without stars Christopher Zeller and Florian Keller as they have taken break to complete their studies.

“Back home academics are very important for us as there is not much money in hockey. If a player has played to a certain level, then he happily goes back to studies. They settle down in life after that.”

“That has always been the case with the German team. We keep losing players and then we rebuild.

“We are going through that phase now. We won the 2002 and 2006 World Cups with different teams, so that’s a good sign for us.”

Muller said he has set no goal for the team as it is difficult to be definite with a young team.

“We do not want any pressure by setting a goal that may not be within our reach. It’s always important to know the potential and then set goals. If you are realisitc you can achieve better results.”

“If the tournament starts well for us, we can reach the finals and who knows we can make it a hat-trick. History is not important for us, what matters is performance. We have to find our own style and ability to make the team strong again.”

Muller said he, too, will pursue academics full time before the 2012 London Olympics

“This World Cup is very important for me. It is my first World Cup and may be the last before I go back to studies.”

Muller said youngsters like Florian Fuchs are the future of the team and they have a great opportunity here.

“I am looking forward to Florian. He is the youngest player in the team, one of our best strikers. He has scored lot of goals in the Champions Trophy.”