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A to Z of WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010 - Germany
GERMANY:
In the jungle that is international football, there is little doubt that one of the ‘Big Beasts’ is Germany. They have a record which puts them in the top 3 most successful teams in international competitions – 3 World Cups (’54, ’74 and 1990), runners-up 4 times (’66, ’82, ’86 and 2002) and a 3rd. place finish on three other occasions. One word epitomises German football – consistency. They have become past masters of the penalty shoot-out, as all England fans can testify. In fact a German has not missed an international penalty since the World Cup semi-final against France in 1982! Theirs is a history rich in names and deeds – Uwe Seeler, Gerd Muller, Lothar Matthaus, Jurgen Klinsmann to name but a few. Head and shoulders above this starry collection is ‘Der Kaiser’, Franz Beckenbauer, the only person to have won World Cup winners’ medals as both player and coach.
By the above standards the current squad could be seen as ordinary, but underestimate the Germans at your peril. Coach Joachim Loew will be leading his country into their 17th appearance (out of 19) at the World Cup Finals. Loew assisted Jurgen Klinsmann in the 2006 tournament and took over at the end of that event. His side were unbeaten in their 2010 qualifying campaign, winning 8 and drawing 2 of their 10 matches. The team is captained by Chelsea’s Michael Ballack who generally bestrides the midfield and has amassed an impressive 42 goals in 97 appearances. He is quoted at 60/1 with Bet365 to be top scorer in the 2010 tournament. Alongside him in midfield is likely to be Bastien Schweinsteiger and the burgeoning talent that is Musut Ozil. It remains to be seen if coach Loew brings out-of-favour Torsten Frings back into his squad. Behind this formidable midfield is likely to be the equally formidable frame of Stoke City’s Robert Huth: at 6’3” he is known as ‘The Berlin Wall’. Enough said! Up front Germany can boast an attacking trio that is the envy of most sides. Foremost amongst them is Bayern Munich’s Miroslav Klose, the only man to date who has scored 5 or more goals in consecutive World Cup Finals (’02 and ’06). Coral are offering 28/1 on his being top scorer this summer. His club partner Mario Gomez is likely to have a similar role in South Africa: a prolific scorer in the Bundesligia, he has yet to reproduce his club form on the international stage. Loew may well decide to partner Klose with Lukas Podolski who has 37 goals in 69 appearances. Gomez is 40/1 with Victor Chandler, and Podolski 50/1 with Betfred, for the coveted Golden Boot award.
The draw for the Finals saw Germany, ranked 6th by FIFA, paired with Australia, Serbia and recent African Cup of Nations finalists, Ghana. There is every expectation that Germany will progress to the latter stages of the competition. That certainly is the view of the bookmaking fraternity. A semi-final exit is 9/2 with Paddy Power, with bwin offering 15/4 to make it all the way through to the Final. The odds on Germany adding to their 3 Final wins are 14/1 with Skybet. For nostalgic punters and those who love singing (?) the theme from The Dambusters, Paddy Power has an England-Germany Final at 28/1. Could be time to dig out your tin hat!
Posted: Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 @ 08:02 pm by Mark
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