Familiar foes in prospect for Germany

Introductions may be unnecessary in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Group A where UEFA EURO 2008 finalists Germany meet not only their semi-final opponents from that competition, Turkey, but neighbours Austria, Belgium and two teams with German coaches. Bernd Storck of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan's Berti Vogts will certainly be out to impress.

Joachim Löw, Germany coach
It's an interesting group for Germany because there are German-speaking countries and, in Berti Vogts and Bernd Storck, German coaches with German citizenship. Germany against Austria is always an interesting encounter, as are games against Turkey. They are a football-mad country. So an interesting group and not an easy one. I think Germany and Turkey are the favourites and I hope we can make it. We want to qualify for the EURO, so we'll make sure we succeed.

Lutfi Arıboğan, Turkish Football Association vice-president
It would be wrong to say our group is easy. Germany are one of the strongest sides in Europe. Remembering that our last [UEFA European Championship] game was against Germany at EURO 2008 [a 3-2 semi-final loss], we aim to continue where we left off. The group we're in means that, wherever we go, there'll be Turkish support. A great atmosphere is waiting for us. We expect to be the most colourful team of EURO 2012.

Dietmar Constantini, Austria coach
In Germany and Turkey we have drawn two top teams. It's an interesting group and we will have to play well to qualify. For the fans it's always exciting when we play Germany. On our day we can worry all our opponents. The will to win must be there – the will to achieve something that looks unrealistic but which would be tremendous if we did actually qualify.

Dick Advocaat, Belgium coach
Turkey and Germany are favourites but the other teams can make life very difficult for them, which makes it interesting. We have quite a young team and for the last few years we have not been involved in major championships. Now we have a fresh chance so it is important that we stay in contention for as long as possible. We will start the job full of confidence and then see how far we get; only afterwards can we judge if we have done well or not. We are going for qualification, and I would be disappointed if we don't make it.

Bernd Storck, Kazakhstan coach
I'm delighted to get my native Germany, that was my dream. We have a very German group – you have Berti Vogts as Azerbaijan coach, me in Kazakhstan and a German-speaking country in Austria. Germany are the main favourites, with Turkey the chief contenders for second place. Austria and Belgium are also strong. Our goal is to gain experience, as we have the youngest team in the group with an average age of 23. It's hard to say how many points we'll get but we will fight for results.

Berti Vogts, Azerbaijan coach
The group is very tough, very interesting. Germany are the big favourites but Turkey are strong too. We played a friendly against them [losing 2-0 in June 2009] so we are aware of their capabilities. We need to work hard to succeed. That applies to all coaches who work at this level, though. The Azerbaijani national team has to have more training camps and I have asked our club coaches to allow the players to train with us more often.