Having narrowly missed out on success in the Euro 2008 as well as the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Holger Badstuber believes that 2012 will be Germany's chance to finally triumph.
Despite only being 22 years old, Holger Badstuber has established himself in Germany's first team. Well perhaps that is the image of the current youth and exciting set-up under Joachim Leow.
The Germans have won all their Euro 2012 qualifying matches so far and with back to back qualifiers coming up against Azerbajian and Austria this week, Badstuber is confident that Germany are well-placed for a triumph next year.
According to uefa.com, Badstuber said: It's great that we have won all of our matches so far, got good results and given good performances, and that is how it should continue.
"I think that playing in Vienna against Austria will be a hot encounter. They are highly motivated to play against Germany and get points, but we should stay calm. We know our qualities and if we play well then we have a pretty good chance to win there.
"Azerbaijan have shown they can cause problems for the bigger nations, with their victory against Turkey. So it will be difficult to win there, but I think the team will be very motivated and focused, and win there.
Having being made to suffer by Spain in two of their last two major tournaments, Badtuber is certain that the gap between these two sides is decreasing by time.
"Yes, I think the gap is definitely closing. In the last semi-final we proved that we have a chance against them. For me they are still the best nation at the moment, but we came close at the World Cup.
"We want to win the title next year. We only just missed out in the last two tournaments, reaching the final once and the semi-final once, and now it's about time we won.
"But it's still a long way away, there are lots of tough opponents to play, and you need to be at your optimum fitness at the right time. You need to give everything at tournaments like that and we will try to do that at the next EURO.
The Germans have won all their Euro 2012 qualifying matches so far and with back to back qualifiers coming up against Azerbajian and Austria this week, Badstuber is confident that Germany are well-placed for a triumph next year.
According to uefa.com, Badstuber said: It's great that we have won all of our matches so far, got good results and given good performances, and that is how it should continue.
"I think that playing in Vienna against Austria will be a hot encounter. They are highly motivated to play against Germany and get points, but we should stay calm. We know our qualities and if we play well then we have a pretty good chance to win there.
"Azerbaijan have shown they can cause problems for the bigger nations, with their victory against Turkey. So it will be difficult to win there, but I think the team will be very motivated and focused, and win there.
Having being made to suffer by Spain in two of their last two major tournaments, Badtuber is certain that the gap between these two sides is decreasing by time.
"Yes, I think the gap is definitely closing. In the last semi-final we proved that we have a chance against them. For me they are still the best nation at the moment, but we came close at the World Cup.
"We want to win the title next year. We only just missed out in the last two tournaments, reaching the final once and the semi-final once, and now it's about time we won.
"But it's still a long way away, there are lots of tough opponents to play, and you need to be at your optimum fitness at the right time. You need to give everything at tournaments like that and we will try to do that at the next EURO.
