FIFA World Cup 2010: Things To Know About The German Team
The Germans have won the World Cup on three occasions. However each one of those wins came before 1990 and before the two Germanys were united. West Germany first won the World Cup in the 1954 edition on the tournament, by beating tournament favorites Hungary, in a game that is now referred to as the Miracle of Berne. They won their next World Cup in 1974 when the tournament was hosted by West Germany. They won their last World Cup in 1990 in Italy against the host nation itself.
Germany have managed to appear in seventeen of the nineteen World Cups that have taken place to date. The Germans have appeared in the most final matches, their record is currently set at ninety five matches and the only other team to have appeared in those many World Cup finals games is Brazil. Germany also hold the record for most losses in the World Cup final.
Klose who is not one of the brightest talents in Europe for his club, is a World Cup legend for the German national team. He has scored in three consecutive World Cups and has a total of twelve goals in the tournament. That is the fourth highest all time number of goals scored in the World Cup.
The German coach, Joachim Low, is a master tactician. He was handed the job after Klinsmann resigned from his post. In his first tournament in charge he led the team to the finals of the Euro 2008.
The introduction of the German players that won the Under-21 world cup has been one of Germany’s greatest advantages. It brought with it youth, pace and a hunger to win. Ozil, Neuer, Boateng and Khedira, were all in the Under-21 side that beat England 4-0 to win the U-21 Championship.
It was believed that after Michael Ballacks injury before the start of the tournament, the Germans wouldn’t be able to control the midfield, like they are known to. But the return of the injured Khedira paired with the smart passing and intelligent runs of Schweinsteiger, the Germans look stronger than ever in the area that everyone thought they would fail to control.
The German football team is now a combination of various ethnic backgrounds. Apart from the Polish, they now have players in the squad, who can date their gene pool back to countries such as, Tunisia, Ghana, Turkey, Spain and even Bosnia. This new diversity has only helped increase the fan base of the team and has introduced different mind sets to the team as well.
The Germans are masters at the art of penalty shoot outs. They have not lost any of the four World Cup shoot outs they were involved in. The last time Argentina met Germany was at the 2006 World Cup, Argentina had a hundred percent track record going into the game, but after full time the game was tied between the two and resulted in a penalty shootout, which Germany won.
The German team is a force ‘not to be reckoned with’. The form that they are carrying, alongside their superior technical abilities make them one of the strongest contenders for winning the trophy this year.
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