Soccer-Germany factbox for Euro 2016 finals draw

Dec 4 (Reuters) - Germany factbox before the draw for the Euro 2016 finals in Paris on Dec. 12: Seeding Pot for the draw: Pot One (top seeds) How They Qualified: Germany finished top of Group D but their record was far from perfect with the world champions suffering from a post-World Cup hangover when the qualifiers kicked off. A narrow opening win over Scotland was followed by defeat in Poland and a draw against Ireland, with the Germans struggling for form after their tournament win in Brazil. They recovered in time, however, and secured top spot in their group in their final qualifier against Georgia. Thomas Mueller netted nine times during the campaign. Coach Joachim Loew: Loew has been part of the national team for more than a decade and head coach since 2006. Calm and softly-spoken, the 55-year-old, hailed for his tactical acumen, led the team to their fourth World Cup victory with a memorable run in Brazil. A former Germany assistant under predecessor Juergen Klinsmann, Loew also coached VfB Stuttgart and clubs in Turkey and Austria before joining the Germany staff in 2004. Germany's prospects: The ultimate tournament team, Germany are rightly considered favourites for a fourth European title, which has eluded Loew in his previous two tournaments. Finalists in 2008 and semi-finalists four years later, the Germans have come close before. Few would bet against them lifting the trophy with the squad overflowing with talent. What they still need to rediscover in time for the tournament is their goalscoring abilities with Loew considering the option of playing with a natural striker again. He had opted to use midfielders for the job but, apart from Mueller, no other player showed the scoring consistency Loew wanted, forcing him to recall Mario Gomez for his final friendly internationals of 2015. Previous tournaments: Germany have won the trophy three times in 11 previous appearances. They were winners in 1972 and 1980 as West Germany and in 1996. Their third European title was their most recent trophy prior to their 2014 World Cup victory in Brazil. They were losing finalists on three more occasions, in 1976 as West Germany and then again in 1992 and 2008. Despite their sparkling record at the competition with six finals appearance in 11 tournaments, Germany have also crashed out at the first hurdle three times at the Euros, in 1984, 2000 and 2004. 1972: winners; 1976: runners-up; 1980: winners; 1984: group stage; 1988: semi-finals; 1992: runners-up; 1996: winners; 2000: group stage; 2004: group stage: 2008: runners-up; 2012: semi-finals William Hill odds to win Euro 2016: 3/1 (top favourites) (Compiled by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Mike Collett and Mark Meadows)