Germany's World Cup Qualifying Campaign Perfect Opportunity to Integrate Talents

After a tournament is before a tournament. With the busy international calendar seemingly getting more jam-packed each year, national teams need to perform a quick turnaround after major championships are concluded.

In Germany's case, there are only 59 days between their crashing out of Euro 2016 in the semi-finals against host nation France and their opening match in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification stage in Norway.

With that short amount of time for regeneration, it'd only be natural if a team such as the world champions, full of players who regularly play more than 50 matches a season, had a bit of a hangover.

Forward Thomas Muller, who played his 63rd competitive match of the season in the semi-final loss, lamented after the game in Marseille that the mental burden on players has become too much to handle, per sport magazine Kicker (link in German).

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The 26-year-old added that, for a professional footballer, the physical strain is manageable but there aren't enough rest periods. Perhaps the constant rush from big game to big game explains why even a genuine world-class player like the Bayern Munich star can have such a disappointing tournament. 

At any rate, Germany had one of these hangovers after their triumph in Brazil, losing games against Poland and Republic of Ireland in their qualifying group and friendly matches against Argentina and the United States in the 12 months after winning their fourth World Cup.

Some of that was down to important figures such as team captain Philipp Lahm, centre-back Per Mertesacker and the ever-reliable Miroslav Klose ending their international careers after the World Cup, but more than that, some players struggled to find their form for months or had to deal with nagging injury problems after a stressful four weeks in the Brazilian heat.

As Germany turn the page to their qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, they don't have to fear that hangover.

For one, a let-off after winning a trophy that had proved to be so elusive for years was only natural. Coming off a European Championship that was largely successful, but really only par for the course with a final-four appearance, there shouldn't be too big an emotional decline.

Even if there was, the luck of the draw was with the Germans once again.

In Group C, they'll face two Euro 2016 participants in Czech Republic and Northern Ireland, as well as Azerbaijan, Norway and San Marino. Seeing as France got grouped together with the Netherlands, and Spain share a group with Italy, the world champions can be more than happy with their draw.

The Czechs were one of the weakest teams at the Euros and will be without their one world-class player in goalkeeper Petr Cech, who retired from international football after the tournament, per the BBC.

Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Germany already faced Northern Ireland in France, a 1-0 win not at all reflecting their dominance in the match—free-agent goalkeeper Michael McGovern probably earned himself a nice contract with his performance.

Azerbaijan won just one of their 10 matches in the qualifying stage for the Euros, against lowly Malta, while Norway came third in the same group but lost both play-off matches against Hungary.

San Marino, finally, will be happy if they can keep the result in single digits, having lost their last home match against Germany in 2006 13-0.

All in all, it's a group Germany probably would get out of playing with 10 men in every game. There may be a draw in there, but anything other than a smooth campaign would be hard to justify given the quality—or lack thereof—of their opponents.

While it may generally be better for a team to have at least one serious opponent in the group to keep them on their toes, relatively weak opposition will present Germany's head coach with a great opportunity to experiment with his team and integrate some younger players.

Of course, there's still the small question of who the head coach will be. Joachim Low, who has been in charge of the team for a decade now, has so far not committed to honouring his contract that runs until after the 2018 World Cup.

This writer argued Germany need him to stay on in an earlier piece and, with a distinct lack of natural succession plans, the assumption is he will indeed go into another World Cup campaign at the helm of a team he led to the final four in each of his five tournaments.

Looking at the many exciting young talents at his disposal, it'd be an odd time to step away from the international game for the 56-year-old.

In Joshua Kimmich, one of those youngsters just made the official Euro Team of the Tournament, per UEFA.com. While it's debatable whether he deserved that honour for his performances as a makeshift right-back, it's a brilliant acknowledgement for one of German football's brightest young players.

And the 21-year-old only represents the tip of the iceberg.

Players such as Emre Can, Leroy Sane, Jonathan Tah and Julian Weigl were already included in the Euro squad, while Julian Brandt was one of the final cuts ahead of the tournament. 

Wingers Brandt and Sane and central midfielder Weigl look like the best bets to play their way into a starting role over the next two years.

With Marco Reus' near-constant injury woes and the lack of form that Muller, Mario Gotze and Andre Schurrle displayed at the Euros, Low could thrust either of the two 20-year-olds into a prominent role before too long.

Weigl, meanwhile, was one of the most consistent performers in his first year in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund last season and looks poised to become a long-term starter at the international level thanks to his blend of intelligence and a remarkable calmness.

If team captain Bastian Schweinsteiger retires from the national team, Weigl would seem like a logical replacement, while Can could take over from Sami Khedira, who also struggled with injuries over the last few seasons.

The talent pool extends far beyond the players who made or were close to making the 23-man squad for France, too.

Midfielders Max Meyer and Leon Goretzka have already debuted for the senior team, as has Kevin Volland. Mahmoud Dahoud was one of the shooting stars of the last Bundesliga season for Borussia Monchengladbach and could become an option soon. 

In RB Leipzig attackers Timo Werner and Davie Selke, there could even be a long-term answer for Germany's striker problem waiting in the wings.

Not all of these young talents will make the next step over the course of the qualifying period, but some will. A whopping seven of the 23 players to make the final squad for the Euros only debuted after the 2014 World Cup, per Transfermarkt.co.uk.

Thanks to an easy group, there's no risk in continuing the youth movement for Germany.

Lars Pollmann is a Featured Columnist who also writes for YellowWallPod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.