32 Sides In 32 Days: Germany
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail CNTV, May 14, 2014
Winners of three tournaments in three different decades, Germany's success at the game's most prestigious event has become a constant. They trail only Brazil in the overall FIFA World Cup ranking. With the ability to regularly find their best form at the finals of major tournaments, the expectation is that Germany will challenge again this year.
Philipp Lahm: "The team is ready to win the title but it won't be easy. We have the players to do it. It's a young and very talented squad."
Jerome Boateng: "We have plenty of potential. We will try and play good football. It's what the coach expects from us. You can see the way we have been playing for the last few years. We have certainly developed but we haven't lost our German attributes such as our fighting spirit and `never give up` mentality."
The word Germany is thought to originate from Julius Caesar, who used it to describe people east of the Rhine, and Germanic tribes are thought to date from the Iron Age. With 80.6 million inhabitants, it's the most populous member state of the European Union.
Germany has produced some of the world's finest scientists, philosophers, and composers and footballers. It has the fourth largest economy in the world, and last year, Germany was the most positively viewed nation in the world. 27 million Germans are members of sports clubs and the most popular pastime is football, which is believed to have been introduced by an Englishman in 1874. Today Germany has a very strong league, and notable clubs include Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburg, and Bayern Munich. The national side's nickname is simply "Die Mannschaft" or the team.
Manuel Neuer: "The clubs are doing the essential day-to-day work. It's obvious that football in Germany is very popular and everybody wants to play."
In qualifying, Germany scored more goals than any of the other teams that will be in Brazil. 36 strikes from 10 different players proved the strength of their attacking options.
Joachim Low: "If three or four players are injured we can replace them with players of equal ability. That makes it a very strong squad especially at a tournament where you need to play six or seven matches at a consistently high level. That can be a great advantage. I am happy, although sometimes there's the "agony of choice" for a coach. Sometimes you have to make difficult decisions but I prefer this to having a shortage of players.
Germany face Ghana on the 21st of June. They will play their hundredth match at the FIFA World Cup when they open their campaign against Portugal in Salvador and their final group game is against the USA on the 26th of June.
Jerome Boateng: "There are many good teams. Brazil will be very competitive in their own country. Italy, Spain, and Argentina will also be strong, and there are always surprise teams, so it won't be easy at all. If we go all the way, that would be a great thing for Germany. Let's get out of the group first and then take it game by game."
Philipp Lahm: "We need to be awake right from the start, otherwise we'll be under pressure. If we don't win the first game, we still have to face both Ghana and the USA. They are also difficult opponents. Some of their players play in the Bundesliga. The group phase in itself is a considerable challenge, but as the German national team, of course we must get through."
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)