Loew: Germany are a Euro contender but not the favourites

"We are among the favourites. But I don't see us as the top favourite," Loew said in an interview with the Sport1 website.

 "France and Italy have been more successful over the past 10 years. I believe that Portugal and Spain will play a good role as well."

   A recent survey published by Focus magazine said that 58 per cent of 1,000 Germans polled believes that Loew's team can win the tournament which takes place June 7-29 in Austria and Switzerland.

 Germany have not won a Euro match since the 1996 final for a record third title, crashing out in the first round in 2000 and 2004. But Loew said the current team is better and showed with a third-place finish at the home World Cup two years ago that it can deal with big expectations.

 "The team has matured in such a way that it can deal with pressure," Loew said.

 Germany play Croatia, Poland and Austria in the group stage, and Loew doesn't expect another Euro disaster even though further improvement is needed, especially in the tactical area.

 "We played a good World Cup and have developed further since then. We qualified early for Euro, played good football in most matches and raised some young players."