It is about time the Germans are starting to believe

New polls show that increasing numbers of Germans think that their team can win the World Cup this summer. The percentage of Germans who think they can walk away with the trophy has more than doubled from 18 percent to 39 percent in less than three weeks.

The numbers are up from two months ago when only 3 percent of the country backed the national side.

Three percent? That’s it?

I’m sorry but even a loss to Turkey and an uninspired win against China shouldn’t have had the Germans that down on their team. Don’t they know that they are hosting the tournament? Don’t they know that the host country always gets a ton of advantages? Don’t they know that even though this German team isn’t as strong as some in years past, it still has plenty of talent?

Maybe the new numbers are starting to show that the German public does know this or maybe they just reflect an optimism stemming from being drawn into a group with Poland, Costa Rica and Ecuador.

Whatever the polls show, as long as Germany is playing on its home soil it has to be considered one of the favorites.