Team Profile: Germany 2010
The semi final between Germany and Spain in which Spain eventually won 1-0, had a lot of people questioning just how the youngest German side to play at a World Cup finals would perform. The German team; had been impressing many people with their skill and hunger to win but they eventually fell prey to a more experienced Spanish team. Would they have fared better with a more experienced side or is this team just coming into its own and will it destroy everyone in 2014?
With the absence of their captain Michael Ballack, Germany had a clear absence of experience in the side going into the World Cup. That did not stop the team from destroying their competition. It seemed they were hungry for victory and with most of the players in their early to mid twenties they had superior fitness levels to other teams at the Cup. Eleven out of the 23 man side were playing in their first World Cup and some were even playing in their first major tournament. With such a lack of experience, many people thought the team would not deliver, but they were all proved wrong. The Germans defeated the Australians 4-0, the English 4-1 and the very strong Argentineans 4-0. The way they beat these teams is very notable because if they would have won their games 1-0 or 2-1, then people could have said that the side was lacking something, but by winning with such large margins showed that the team was working extremely well together.
The German team found some very good talent in the likes of Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller, Jerome Boateng and Manuel Neur. The respective ages of these players are 21, 20, 21 and 24. These were stars of the Under 21 German team that got a bump into the national side for the World Cup. They performed very well with Ozil and Muller really showing that they are future stars for the country. Ozil especially has proven that he has the capabilities to become a top goal scorer for the country and will probably feature heavily when Germany play in 2014 in Brazil.
The German team's coach Joachim Loew has done a phenomenal job of bringing his young side together and making them work extremely well together as a team. Before the start of the tournament Loew had to make some tough decisions, he left out Torsten Frings to the horror of many German fans. He also had to deal with the fact that a lot of his top players had been performing very poorly for their clubs side’s right before the tournament began. It did not seem to bother him though and he took the tough decisions and played new players and it worked out very well for him in the end. Since taking over the job from Jurgen Klinsman, Loew has really shone in the role and it seems his abilities as a coach to bring his young side together to gel and work as a single unit have been great. The thing that may have hurt the coach although was their attempt to work as a unit. The team seemed to have left a gap which a star could have filled. It seems with other strong teams, like Spain, when they need someone to step up and take charge stars like Villa and Iniesta fill that role. It could be that in 4 years time we will see Ozil take up that role and become the lead man to whom the team will look to when the going gets rough.
One of the big things that one would have noticed in yesterday's semi final match between Germany and Spain was the fact that the two main defenders of Spain, Puyol and Pique, were like rocks at the back. They had much more experience than their German counterparts and were able to keep the back line tight and rock solid. That seems to be what led to the downfall of the German team. Even though they had an amazing run up till that point, they were stopped in their tracks by a very technical and experienced Spanish side. The other big thing about the match was the fact that Spain dominated possession throughout the game, at one point it was even 70% to the Spaniards. They were able to keep Germany off the ball where they are so dangerous. The experience of the Spanish side paid off in the end.
Even though their run has ended in this current World Cup, the German team will probably be hot favourites to win the trophy in four years time. By that time the players will have matured, will have gained experience and the world better watch out. The stars of Germany will probably blow everyone away.
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