Moscow: Defending champions Germany would like to shrug off a rocky World Cup build-up as they begin their title defence Sunday against a vastly experienced Mexico here.
The form of Joachim Loew-coached Germany is still a concern though as they didn’t had a good pre-World Cup campaign losing to lower ranked Austria before putting up an unconvincing win over Saudi Arabia who were thrashed 5-0 by hosts Russia in the opening game.
While goalkeeper Manuel Neuer finally won his lengthy fitness battle after more than eight months out, midfielders Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan were jeered by home fans in recent friendlies after posing for a photograph alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Loew however, said there was no greater challenge than defending the World Cup title ahead of their opening game. “It’s the most difficult feat and history has demonstrated that, no one in 60 years has done it,” Loew told reporters at the Luzhniki Stadium Saturday.
“Teams develop and change, players finish their careers and you must bring in new players which makes it the most difficult achievement.”
On the other hand like Germany, Mexico have also qualified with ease for their seventh consecutive World Cup appearance after punching their ticket to the finals with three matches to spare.
Rafael Marquez, who will retire after the tournament, is set to become just the third player in the history of the tournament — after compatriot Antonio Carbajal and Germany’s Lothar Matthaus — to feature at five World Cups.
However the Mexican side were jolted in a pre-tournament scandal after nine of their World Cup bound players reportedly partied with about 30 prostitutes ahead of their departure for Europe.
Though Mexican officials ruled out sanctions against the players involved because they attended the party in their free time, but the incident echoed similar scandals in recent years.