Joachim Low is confident Germany will continue to dominate their World Cup qualifying group after identifying their 2014 triumph as a contributing factor to a slow start to their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
After guiding Germany to a fourth World Cup title in Brazil, Low saw his side make a slow start in their quest to reach the European Championship in France, winning just one of their opening three games.
"Only one team can qualify [for the World Cup] automatically [from each group] and the others go into a play-off, so we set ourselves the target of dominating the campaign from the start," Low told FIFA.com. "I think we've done that well.
"In 2014, after we became world champions, we had a few difficult moments. A tournament like that saps you in terms of physical and emotional strength.
"The players only had a short holiday and a brief pre-season, and sometimes it's the case that teams who go far in a tournament can have some problems getting back into a rhythm.
"Other countries that don't compete in those tournaments can relax and recharge the batteries. So from that point of view, it's not always that easy. But for us, it's worked out well so far."
