BERLIN, June 5 (Xinhua) -- German interest in the World Cup 2014 remains high, a study by the University of Hohenheim showed on Thursday.
German soccer fever before the world championship was evident with more than two-thirds of those polled wanting to see as many games as possible, according to the result of a representative study.
"A World Cup is just still something special. It takes place only every four years and it unites people," said Prof. Markus Voeth from the University of Hohenheim responsible for the study. "This creates a feeling of solidarity that people in other life situations can barely see," he added.
According to the study, the big favorites at the 2014 World Cup are Brazil, Germany and Spain.
The majority of Germans assumes that Brazil will be the world champion and Germany will reach at least the semifinals.
Overall, expectations are high on the German national team, as about two-thirds of respondents expect Germany to perform just as good or even better in Brazil than in the past two World Championships in 2006 and 2010.
"People know that Germany was at least nine times in the quarter-finals, seven times at least in semi-finals and five times in finals during the last 10 world championships. This shapes their expectations," said Prof. Voeth.
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