[caption id="attachment_6958" align="alignright" width="231" caption="Germany"][/caption]
Nick name: Die mannschaft (The Team)
Manager: Joachim Low
FIFA Rank: 6 (Ref: FIFA.com, April 2010)
Group Opponents: Ghana,Serbia,Australia (Group D)
Recent form and news: Joachim Low’s men were pretty impressive in qualifying although their recent defeat in a friendly at home to Argentina resulted in more questions than answers. Ghana made sure they make their presence felt thanks to Kevin- Prince Boateng forcing Ballack limp out of the tournament.
World Cup Schedule:
Jun 13 vs. Australia
Jun 18 vs. Serbia
Jun 23 vs. Ghana
Except for the Australian challenge, the Germans will have their road to the knockout stage pretty easy.
Goalkeepers:
Hans-Jorg Butt (Bayern Munich)
Manuel Neuer (Schalke )
Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen)
Change in Guard here, as Jens Lehmann and Oliver Kahn have both walked into sunset.
Defenders:
The player to watch out here is Philip Lahm who has had a brilliant season for Bayern. He will be the key in the German defense alond with Friedrich and Mertesacker.
Dennis Aogo (Hamburger SV)
[caption id="attachment_6959" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Joachim Loew"]
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Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich)
Andreas Beck (Hoffenheim)
Jerome Boateng (Hamburger SV)
Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin)
Marcell Jansen (Hamburger SV)
Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich)
Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen)
Serdar Tasci (Stuttgart)
Heiko Westermann (Schalke)
Midfielders:
The deadly Bastian Schweinsteiger will lead the German midfield after Michael Ballack suffered a unfortunate injury to be ruled out.
Sami Khedira (Stuttgart)
Toni Kroos (Bayer Leverkusen)
Marko Marin (Werder Bremen)
Mesut Oezil (Werder Bremen)
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich)
Christian Traesch (Stuttgart)
Piotr Trochowski (Hamburger SV)
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Forwards:
The deadly duo of Lucas Podolski and Miroslav Klose will have to prove their worth as they have earned some flack at their selection. Klose won the Golden Boot at the last edition of the World Cup.
Cacau (Stuttgart)
Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich)
[caption id="attachment_6960" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Germany again!"]
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Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen)
Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich)
Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich)
Lukas Podolski (Cologne)
Author’s take: Ballack or no Ballack, can anybody discount the capabilities of the mighty Germans? For me,they have been the most consistent team over a period of time making it to WC’02 finals, finishing 3rd place in WC’06 and losing to Spain in the EURO CUP finals. They are tactical,play cohesively,are physically strong and known to have nerves of steel .The player to look forward is Philipp Lahm who has been brilliant for Bayern Munich this time. Lahm along with the dangerous trio of Klose, Podelski and Schweinsteiger will be looking forward to Sami Khedira who can be an ideal replacement for Ballack. Joachim Low’s Most probable starting XI
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