Germany versus Italy, international friendly, preview
Germany
High on their performance in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Germany are a force to be reckoned with. Under Joachim Lowe’s guidance, Germany have turned into a formidable football outfit, a team for all seasons.
There might be a few question marks about Germany’s old timers but the amount of youth coming through the ranks in the Bundesliga means that Germany will be one of the key teams in the EURO 2012 tournament as well as the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
However, as the Bavarian nation takes on Italy in a friendly matchup on Wednesday, Joachim Lowe is expected to try out some of the newer members of his squad.
Germany played out a disappointing nil all draw against Sweden in their last international friendly but before that Joachim Lowe’s men soared to a three goal win against Kazakhstan.
In their last five matches in the international arena, Germany have only conceded a single goal which came against Azerbaijan. The match which, eventually resulted in a five goal win for the World Cup semi-finalists saw Manuel Neuer making an uncharacteristic
mistake, which led towards the Azerbaijani goal.
Nonetheless, Germany have been unbeaten in their last five fixtures in international football and when they take the field against Italy, Die Mannschaft will be favourites to win once again.
However, it should be remembered that Germany have some history with the Italians. In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Germans were knocked out of the tournament by Italy in the semi-finals of the tournament.
In total it has been sixteen long years since Germany garnered a win against the Azzuri. Joachim Lowe is insistent that his team will break the curse on Wednesday night. In his latest press conference Joachim said, "We haven't beaten Italy for nearly 16
years, from those statistics, you can see they are a team we have feared in the past. I want to break that record that is our goal”.
Italy
On a rebuilding mission of massive magnitude, this Italian team has got its issues in various departments of its squad.
At the FIFA 2010 World Cup, Italy failed to impress as the defending champions and as a result they were knocked out of the tournament after failing to win any of their group stage matches in South Africa.
A lot has changed since then but it seems almost ironic to say that Italy’s weakest component is its inexperienced defence. In the past, Italy prided themselves on their ability to soak up pressure and hit on the counter attack. This time around such a policy
might not be advisable as their strongest feature is indeed the Italian offensive flair in shape of Pazzini, Rossi and Cassano.
Regardless, Italy are unbeaten in their last five international encounters. However, two of those five matches have ended in draws for the former World Champions.
Additionally, Italy also drew their last international friendly against Romania, a match that saw racial vibes surface as Mario Balotelli played for the Azzuri.
Cesare Prandelli, Italy’s coach has encouraged a team effort before the match as he said in his recent interview, “I expect a difficult game, but I don't fear a collapse from the team.
Against Germany it is an important game for many reasons. We are not here to listen to what people say, but to continue on our road. Apart from what we are expecting, I want to see a squad with courage on a difficult pitch and a team that will play for the
game".
Team news
Germany are scheduled to start with all of their big guns but some selection surprises are expected as Joachim Lowe might start with Mario Goetze in midfield rather than the relatively more experienced Mesut Ozil.
Expected line up, Manuel Neuer, Phillip Lahm, Per Mertesacker, Holger Badstuber, Marcel Schmelzer, Thomas Müller, Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mesut Ozil, Lukas Podolski, Miroslav Klose
On the other hand, Italy welcome Gianluigi Buffon back into their squad after the Juventus goalkeeper recovered from a long series of fitness problems, which have kept him out of action since June 2010. Prandelli has also called up Cassano and the Italian
manager has already revealed his starting line-up.
Expected line up, Gianluigi Buffon, Mattia Cassani, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Ranocchia, Riccardo Montolivo, Thiago Motta, Daniele De Rossi, Stefano Mauri, Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini
Key players
Bastian Schweinsteiger is expected to lead the German midfield machine just like he did in the FIFA 2010 World Cup. Bayern Munich’s top midfielder has been on song since the 2009-2010 UEFA Champions League season. On the other side, Antonio Cassano is expected
to feature prominently for the former European Champions.
The A.C. Milan striker has been on a high note of form of late for his new club and he is expected to carry his goal scoring form into this friendly matchup.
Prediction
With league football resuming on the up-coming weekend, both the sides might not go all out for a win. However, Germany have the stronger squad in terms of depth and balance and thus they are tipped as winners by a possible score line of 2-1.
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