SOCHI, Russia -- Emre Can has said he believes Germany are favourites for the Confederations Cup as they prepare for a semifinal against Mexico on Thursday.
Liverpool midfielder Can, who helped Germany navigate the group stage with relative ease, told reporters: "We have a young squad, but if you come as world champions to the tournament, I think you are favourite.
"And if you played a good group stage and are now in the semis, a lot of people are expecting a lot of things."
Can said winning the Confederations Cup would be a "big achievement" and added: "You can see the quality in the team on the pitch. I think the quality is very high."
Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi echoed that confidence ahead of the closing stages of a tournament Germany have never won.
"After the last games, maybe one or two people in this tournament respect us more than before because I think we've played a really good tournament up to now," he said.
"Maybe before people were thinking: 'It's a young team, maybe it's going to be a bit easier for us,' but I think we've proved those people wrong.
"We are hungry and I think we're going to go until the end."