"I do not think it's imaginable that I go into such a tournament without match practice," Neuer admitted last week. After winning all their qualifiers, Germany have failed to win recent friendlies against England, France, Spain and Brazil. Nevertheless, they are the world's top-ranked side and almost always deliver at the World Cup. "We are delighted that he keeps playing this well and are excited about him keeping it up at the World Cup," Lopetegui recently told FIFA.com. Deschamps' team won their qualifying group despite some unconvincing performances, including a goalless home draw with Luxembourg, and the coach has his critics.

Source: Bangkok Post May 13, 2018 00:45 UTC