Ze Germans. A brand of football that is painful or pleasing, depending on your constitution. Efficient, difficult to break down, superb at penalty shoot-outs but a general dislike to what they do on the football field remains constant.
It isn’t a World Cup without Germany, whichever way you want to look at it. Hate them or detest them, they can provide some blockbusters on their day.
They’ve won the World Cup three times (’54, ’74 and ’90) and if you were having a slippery each-way bet for the 2010 tournament with a bit of a price then maybe you’ve found your boys. The track record in the qualifiers shouts quality: top of their group ahead of Russia and Finland with eight wins and two draws from ten matches.
The loss of the injured Michael Ballack tarnishes their aspirations on a number of levels. The Chelsea midfielder would be the leader, the link-man and, ultimately, the difference between pushing past the best and falling short.
Philip Lahm, Per Mertesacker, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski are all reasons to be confident in the Germans but the lack of first-team football for Bayern Munich’s Miroslav Klose may have already upset the applecart for head coach Joachim Löw.
Still, we expect Germany to sweep the boards in Group D against Australia, Ghana and Serbia. One major negative to be aware of is the fact that they possess a severe lack of experience in the goalkeeping department. Manuel Neuer, Tim Wiese and Hans-Jörg Butt possessed a combination of ten international caps when Löw finalised his squad! Not an Oliver Kahn amongst them.
Star Player: Bastian Schweinsteiger
The pressure has increased on the 25-year-old central midfielder since Ballack was ruled out. Bayern Munich’s popular playmaker has not fully lived up to the expectations from when he burst onto the international scene at Euro 2004.
Schweinsteiger has huge boots to fill but if he can run an engine room to good effect then Germany will be a force to be reckoned with in the latter stages of the tournament.
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Manager: Joachim Löw
Löw has been at the helm since 2006 and this World Cup could be his last opportunity to show dividends at the end of a major tournament.
Assistant coach to Jürgen Klinsmann for two years prior to his appointment as head coach, Löw is noted as an intelligent tactician and is one of the very few 82.2 million Germans to show emotion. He was sent to the stands by the referee in Germany’s final group game against Austria in Euro 2008 along with his Austrian counterpart Josef Hickersberger for arguing with the fourth official.
Prediction: Quarter-finalist exit
Germany should meet Argentina in the quarter-finals if our crystal ball proves correct and four years after they knocked the Messi-less Argentines out at the same stage on home soil, that could be the perfect change for South American atonement.
Group opponents should provide little trouble, apart from Serbia who may give them a scare and then it could very well be a last 16 round game with the United States before the Argies get their hands dirty.
Odds: 14/1
Irishness rating: 2/10
The Germans are most things the Irish are not. Pig-headed, mundane, zero social skills. However, the Oktoberfest shows they like a drink or two so we’ll make a concession for that.
If they were a car they’d be…
Land Rover – No frills but relentless.
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