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Of course, it’s not just about participation. As always for Germany, anything short of a World Cup title would be a disappointment. Germany, ranked No. 1 in the world, suffered a stinging quarter-final loss to Japan in Sasic’s first World Cup tournament on home soil in 2011. Germany captured gold in 2003 and 2007.

The Germans should have little trouble getting their feet wet in a positive way in Ottawa. Think about the relatively weak pool the Canadian men’s hockey team normally faces at the world championships. The Germans should advance through the group stage, in a pool which also includes Norway and Thailand and they accept the expectations which come from their lofty perch atop the soccer world.

“There’s no special pressure,” said Sasic, who won an Olympic bronze medal with Germany in 2008. “We know in the rankings that we are No. 1. We are the European champions. So, maybe it’s normal that people think we are the favourites. But for us, we know it’s a very difficult tournament and there are a lot of teams that have great quality and play at a high level, so it won’t be easy to cope with that.

“We have to play at our highest level in every game to advance (past the preliminary round) and then we see what’s coming.”

For all the controversy surrounding the artificial turf surfaces – FIFA abandoned its natural-grass only policy in order to allow Canada to host the tournament – Sasic says Germany has done its best to prepare, including a training camp in Switzerland before arriving in Canada.