GERMANY Fifa Ranking 2 (as at 8 May 2014)
·
17 Appearances
·
3 Titles
- Coach: Joachim Low
- Captain: Philip Lahm
FRIENDLY MATCHES::
·
6 June
2014 Armenia in Mainz
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/soccer-germany-held-draw-feisty-cameroon-203213991--sow.html#TFUkDPT
·
The
other friendly 1 June 2014 vs Cameroon
in Moenchengladbach was a 2 all draw. `
How Germany qualified:
·
Topped Group C. Had an unbeaten record. Nine wins from
10 fixtures.
·
Scored 36 goals. More than any side in European zone qualifying.
·
Spectacular to watch on attack. One of the favourites
to take the title.
·
Weaknesses: According to Low: Greater stability in Defence
& better third quarter play.
3rd most number of FIFA World Cup final Wins
· Germany 3 1954; 1974 (Franz Beckenbauer); 1990 Lotha Matthaus
·
Italy 4
·
Brazil 5
Germany
4 times World Cup Runner up
· 1966, 1982, 1986, 2002
Germany 3rd in World Cup
on four occasions
· 1934, 1970, and in the last two World Cups in 2006 &
2010
More about the German track
record
·
No other team has
played more matches (99) or scored more goals (222) at the FIFA World Cup
finals.
With the above track record, you can forgive me for joking that just as you can't have a World War without inviting the Germans, neither can you really have the World Cup Semi-Finals without one of the four teams being Germany!
With the above track record, you can forgive me for joking that just as you can't have a World War without inviting the Germans, neither can you really have the World Cup Semi-Finals without one of the four teams being Germany!
OPENING WORLD CUP FIXTURE & OTHER GROUP G FIXTURES:
·
Portugal on 16 June in
Salvador.
·
Ghana
on 21 June in Fortaleza
·
USA on
26 June in Recife
THE GERMAN SQUAD
Excerpts from FIFA
articles on the FIFA World Cup web site follow:
Who's in (30-man provisional squad)
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Roman
Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hannover 96)
Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Erik
Durm (Borussia Dortmund), Benedikt Howedes (Schalke 04), Mats Hummels (Borussia
Dortmund), Marcell Jansen (Hamburg), Phillipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Per
Mertesacker (Arsenal), Shkodran Mustafi (Sampdoria), Marcel Schmelzer (Borussia
Dortmund)
Midfielders: Julian Draxler, (Schalke 04), Kevin
Grosskreutz (Borussia Dortmund), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Matthias Ginter
(SC Freiburg), Leon Goretzka (Schalke 04), Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich), Andre
Hahn (Augsburg), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Max Meyer (Schalke), Thomas Müller
(Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal), Marco Reus
(Borussia Dortmund), Andre Schurrle (Chelsea), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern
Munich)
Forwards: Miroslav Klose (SS Lazio), Kevin Volland
(TSG Hoffenheim)
Who misses out?
Mario Gomez, the subject of much
discussion due to long term injury and Germany’s dearth of classic centre
forwards, is definitely out, as is Gladbach’s Max Kruse, whose form this year had seen him as a strong favourite
for the World Cup. Experienced players such as Hamburg’s Heiko Westermann and
Rene Adler have also failed to make the grade.
Surprise package
In the absence of Gomez and Kruse, Kevin Volland now has a good chance of
making the final squad. The 21 year old Hoffenheim forward has been in fine
form this season, and could see a surprising amount of action in Brazil if Low
is brave enough to play him over Miroslav
Klose.
Danger man
See above. Should Klose be considered fit enough for the first team, he will be
poaching as usual, and will surely break even more records at his fourth World
Cup.
If not, Volland will be looking to prove his worth on the major stage.
Though experiments with a false nine haven’t entirely worked for Low, the
attacking talent he has in midfield is certainly to be feared.
The architect
This remains up for debate. At his best, Mesut Ozil creates more space and
chances for Germany than anyone, but his form at Arsenal this year has been
worrying. Sami Khedira, should he
return to full fitness in time, will be the rock around which Low hopes to
build his midfield, though that role can be played by Schweinsteiger in the Madrid man’s absence.
LARS BENDER RULED OUT OF WORLD CUP 23 May
2014 AFP
Lars Bender was on Friday ruled out of next month's
World Cup after suffering a thigh injury to deepen Germany's defensive midfield
woes three weeks before their Brazil 2014 campaign. The 25-year-old tore a
tendon in his upper right thigh at their pre-World Cup training camp in north
Italy, which he will leave on Friday, with Germany facing
Germany head coach Joachim Low has opted not to replace
Bender in his 26-man squad, which needs to be reduced to 23 by 2 June, but
admits the loss of the Bayer Leverkusen star is a blow.
Bender's withdrawal further hampers Low's defensive
midfield plans where vice-captain Bastian Schweinsteiger is unable to train
with tendinitis of the knee while Real Madrid's Sami Khedira will not join the
squad until after Saturday's UEFA Champions League final and spent most of the
last six month sidelined with a knee injury.
I am personally very sorry for Lars and I know he
really wanted to be in Brazil.
Joachim
Low, Germany coach on Lars Bender's injury
"When a player drops out just before the start of
a tournament with an injury, then it's disappointing for everyone," Low
told the German Football Association (DFB) website after Bender suffered the
injury on Thursday. "I am personally very sorry for Lars and I know he
really wanted to be in Brazil. In terms of his performances and character he is
a absolute role model."
Low is already waiting on captain Philipp Lahm (ankle)
and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (shoulder) with the Bayern Munich pair receiving
intensive treatment from the DFB's medical staff and are currently unable to
train.
MIROSLAV KLOSE SAYS HE WILL BE READY 23 May 2014 AFP
Germany's veteran striker Miroslav Klose has said he will be
"100 per cent" ready for next month's FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil,
where he aims to break the tournament's goal record.
With 14 goals at three previous World Cup finals, the 35-year-old
Klose is just one short of Brazil striker Ronaldo's record of 15 for the
all-time goal scorer. As one of only two strikers in the squad, the veteran
says he will be ready when Germany open their Group G campaign against Portugal
in Salvador on 16 June after being blighted by injury at his Italian club Lazio
from the end of March until the start of May.
"I assume I will be 100 per cent ready for the
tournament," the ex-Bayern and Werder Bremen star said from the German
team's training camp in north Italy on Friday. "I feel good and I'm
on the right path. The fitness coaches know me very well and they know
exactly what I need, so everything is moving in the right direction."
Klose said his priority is to the team, rather than claiming goal
records.
"For me, the main thing is to be fit and the most important
thing is the team," he said. "I am convinced that when the team
plays well, then the striker will also get his chances. But anyone who
knows me is aware that the goal record is a target of mine."
I am convinced that when the team plays well, then the striker will
also get his chances.
Germany forward
Miroslav Klose
Germany play the USA and Ghana in their other Group G
matches. There was bad news from the German camp on Friday as defensive
midfielder Lars Bender, 25, was ruled out of Brazil 2014 with a thigh injury.
"We all know what a good footballer Lars is and he played a
good season," Klose said. "You need good players like that and I
am really sorry for him that he is now injured."
While Klose has always played as a striker, but says he can just as
easily slot into the attacking midfield if needed.
"Basically, I can play the 'False Nine', but regardless of who
has experience, at the end of the day the coach makes the decision," Klose
said.
"I just want to train so that the World Cup doesn't pass me
by."
PHILIP LAHM & MANUEL NEUER
24 May 2014
AFP
Coach Joachim Low welcomed Philipp Lahm and Manuel Neuer into
Germany's pre-FIFA World Cup™ camp on Saturday before holding a closed doors
training session on Saturday to fine-tune their Brazil 2014 plans. German
captain Lahm, who has laboured with an ankle injury, and goalkeeper Neuer
(shoulder) finally joined the squad late on Friday having missed the first few
days in north Italy where Low's squad assembled on Wednesday for their ten-day
camp.
The Bayern Munich pair had remained in the Bavarian capital to
receive intense treatment from the German Football Association (DFB) medical
staff under head doctor Hans-Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt. Arsenal centre-back Per
Mertesacker has also joined the Germans having missed the first three days
after the birth of his second child. His Gunners team-mate, attacking
midfielder Mesut Ozil, was unable to train on Saturday due to a slight cold.
"I'm glad that in addition to Per Mertesacker, now Philipp and
Manu have joined the team," said Low. "Even if they could not
initially train with us, their presence is important. The squad is almost
complete, now we are only missing (Real Madrid's) Sami Khedira, who will join
us after the Champions League final."
Even if they could not initially train with us, their presence is
important.
ROMAN WEIDENFELLER READY TO REPLACE NEUER
26 MAY 2014 AFP
Roman Weidenfeller is ready to be Germany's No1 at the FIFA World
Cup™ this summer if Manuel Neuer fails to recover from a shoulder injury.
Doubts persist about Neuer's fitness after he joined the national team with his
arm in a sling last week. It is not yet known when or if the Bayern Munich
custodian will be able to start training.
Weidenfeller, who only received his first cap last November, is now
primed to be promoted to a position he never would have thought possible a year
ago.
"I'm pretty certain Manuel will be back in time, but if
anything were to happen, then I would be ready," the Borussia Dortmund
goalkeeper told sport1.de. "It's sensational for me to be involved.
I think it rounds off my career perfectly, particularly to go to a
football-crazy country like Brazil."
Disastrous World Cup camp threatens to derail Germany this
summer
Thomas Hautmann
FOX Soccer
MAY 31, 2014 8:39a ET
If you're a betting man, the smart money is on Germany
to make the final in Rio de Janeiro this summer.
Germany has reached at
least one final of a major tournament every six years since the former West
Germany finished as runners-up in the 1966 World Cup. After a second-place
finish at the 2008 European Championship, and semi-final exits in 2010 and
2012, they are due. If Germans are known for one trait, it's their
punctuality.
Just don't tell the people
that. Even though Germany is ranked the world's second-best team, and boasts a
World Cup resume of three titles and a record 12 top-four finishes, no one is
brimming with confidence -- as usual.
"It's in a German's
nature to see the negatives over the positives," Bastian Schweinsteiger
recently pointed out. He's dead on: Germans are experts in finding reasons to
anticipate the worst, half oblivious to the history of the national team.
Before the past two World
Cups, widespread concerns over the defence and injuries to Michael Ballack -- especially
in 2010, when the captain missed the tournament completely --threw buckets of
cold water on expectations. The team flourished anyway, finishing in third
place both times after losing to the eventual champion. The outlook in 2002 was
even bleaker; then Germany lost to Brazil
in the final.
Heading into Brazil,
Germans are once again cautiously optimistic at best and doggedly pessimistic
at worst. This time, though, there is genuine reason for worry. Never has a
pre-World Cup camp produced as many negative headlines as Germany's this year.
There were the
off-the-field misdemeanours, such as manager Joachim Low losing his driver's
license for earning too many speeding tickets; and Kevin Grosskreutz's blackout
after the German Cup final. The Dortmund star is alleged to have urinated in a
Berlin hotel lobby, insulted a hostess and kicked a guest in his drunken
stupor, according to a report published in Sport Bild.
Then there was Tuesday's
harrowing car accident during a commercial shoot for team sponsor Mercedes
Benz. Schalke's Benedikt Howedes and Julian Draxler were passengers in vehicles
driven by race car drivers when one of them struck two people on a closed
circuit. The victims were hospitalized, and the crash shook up the camp. It has
since served as the symbol for their apparently cursed stay in south Tyrol.
And then there are the
injuries. The leadership core of Low's team -- the Bayern triumvirate of
Schweinsteiger, Manuel Neuer and Philipp Lahm -- remain unfit to play less than
three weeks before the opening match against Portugal.
Thursday marked the first day all three were able to practice, though only on a
limited basis. And while Low insists everyone will be ready by June 16, doubts
still linger, especially over Neuer.
The reigning IFFHS
Goalkeeper of the Year is nursing a shoulder injury that for much of camp has
restricted him from shaving or brushing his teeth with his right arm. Even if
the pain subsides, third-choice keeper Ron-Robert Zieler acknowledged that such
injuries "don't just go away in a couple of weeks." The absence of
Neuer, Germany's sweeper-keeper and pseudo-playmaker would be tough to digest.
The other trouble spot
lies in defensive midfield, normally a position of strength. The 2010 team's
successful double-pivot of Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira is not yet at full
strength. The former is yet to take part in full-contact training, while
Khedira returned from his six-month injury spell (after tearing his ACL) in
last week's UEFA Champions League final. Alternative Lars Bender is out of the
World Cup entirely with a thigh injury.
Both of Germany's
emotional leaders might yet make the starting line-up in two weeks' time, but
whether they will be at the peak of their powers remains to be seen. In 2012,
Low stuck with a hobbled Schweinsteiger throughout the Euros despite only
witnessing his full potential in spurts. It cost him then, and now Low will
have to make another tough call in Brazil.
This drama-filled camp has
left Low with little chance to tinker with his starting XI or his tactics, but
it's not all doom and gloom either, as hard as it may be for Germans to admit
it.
Even in the worst-case
scenario, adequate replacements can be found for Neuer (Roman Weidenfeller),
Schweinsteiger (Toni Kroos) and Lahm (Grosskreutz). With the likes of Marco
Reus, Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze, Low also has plenty of
world-class talent at his disposal in other areas.
Germany remains the favourite
to win Group G, and the semi-finals are once again the minimum requirement. But
with the squad having left camp Saturday, time is quickly running out for Low
to mobilize his team.
What was that about German
punctuality? Now, the entire nation must bet on it.”
End of Hauptman Article
German midfielder: Julian Draxler of Schalke 04
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