Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Andre Schurrle says that as is the case with any German team at a Soccer World Cup, they are expected to win the tournament and intend to do so.
Germany have tasted Soccer World Cup glory on three occasions and last failed to make it to the quarter-finals or further in 1978. As a result, there is a hefty amount of pressure on the class of 2014 and Schurrle is well aware of this.
"When you come to a World Cup with Germany you are expected to win it," the Chelsea midfielder said ahead of the quarter-final clash with France.
"We don’t just come here to take part. When you have a team with these players, everyone in our country has big expectations.
"That is always the way. We have big expectations and we have that feeling more than ever now that we are in the last eight.
"We don’t think about the pressure on the field, we just think about our duels."
The Germans were made to work hard for their quarter-final berth, with a determined Algeria outfit pushing them all the way into extra time before Schurrle eventually opened the scoring in the 92nd minute. Mesut Ozil then made it 2-0 before Abdelmoumene Djabou grabbed one back for the Fennec Foxes in the dying moments.
The reward for Joachim Low's men is a testing fixture with the French on Friday.
The match kicks off at 18:00 SA time.
