Euro 2020 qualifications: Germany to flirt with 'sexy football' against Belarus

Midfielder Kimmich believes team can boost flagging attendance

DüSSELDORF/ PARIS: Joshua Kimmich says Germany hope to seduce home fans with "sexy football" to brush Belarus aside on Saturday, in an attempt to boost both flagging attendance figures and their bid to qualify for the Euro 2020 finals.

Fan interest has never been so low since Joachim Loew took charge of Germany in 2006, with average attendances for home internationals dropping to a paltry 37,162 and only two thirds of the tickets for both remaining home qualifiers sold so far.

An emphatic win over Belarus in Moenchengladbach could help win back any fans still disgruntled by their woeful 2018 World Cup campaign when Germany came last in their group.

"First and foremost, we are responsible for getting people into the stadium whether we play sexy football or not," said midfielder Kimmich in Duesseldorf. "We have to make sure that everyone who stays at home regrets it a bit."

With two qualifiers left, European powerhouses the Netherlands, who face Northern Ireland in Belfast on Saturday, and Germany are level at the top of Group C on 15 points with the top two teams progressing.

So far, the Dutch and Germans have only lost to each other, with Germany's 3-2 win in Amsterdam last March avenged when the Oranje enjoyed a 4-2 victory in Hamburg in September.

The Germans will claim their Euro finals berth on Saturday with a win provided the Dutch don't lose in Belfast, and Loew's squad will be eager to avoid having to win their final qualifier against Northern Ireland in Frankfurt on Tuesday.

Striker Timo Werner is currently Germany's best source of goals with the RB Leipzig striker having netted 11 goals in as many Bundesliga games this season.

"He's on a sensational run," acknowledged Kimmich, who added the Germans have targeted "six points" from their last two qualifiers.

France, England join big guns

The Euro 2020 line-up began to take shape after big-hitters France and England qualified for next year's finals alongside Turkey and the Czech Republic.

World champions France reached the tournament without having to kick a ball thanks to Turkey sealing their own qualification after a goalless draw with Iceland in the day's early match.

Chelsea outcast Olivier Giroud then moved to within two international goals of France great Michel Platini with a late penalty that ensured a comeback win over a Moldova side ranked 175th in the world.

The scrappy victory at a chilly Stade de France put Didier Deschamps' side two points ahead of Turkey at the top of Group H ahead of their final match at Albania on Sunday.

"I could and should have scored before the penalty. We quite simply didn't get off to the start we should have done," Giroud told French television.

Harry Kane fired England into the Euros in style with a hat-trick that helped the 2018 World Cup semi-finalists dismantle poor Montenegro 7-0 at Wembley.