Germany World Cup Squad Preview

Written by Dave Allan Monday, 24 May 2010 10:10

World Cup Squad Previews

The withdrawal through injury of Michael Ballack means Germany's squad is the only team in the World Cup apart from England with all members playing in the home nation i.e. No member of the squad plays outside Germany.

Whether this fact will be a help or hinderance remains to be seen but undoubtedly this is a tightly-knitted squad who know each other and each other's game well and will perform in the usual 'German way'. The lazy English interpretation of this 'way' is of efficiency however the reality is  Germany have been so effective in the majority of World Cups they have played in because they play football the way it should be played - as a team.

The squad were dealt a bitter blow last year when their number one keeper Robert Enke committed suicide. However, the Bundesliga is spoilt by excellent shot stoppers and in Hans-Jorg Butt, Manual Neuer and Tim Weisse they have three players capable of replacing Enke.

The defence has a steady look about it with Arne Freidrich, Philipp Lahm, Marcell Jansen and Per Mertesacker all having played together in the last World Cup while Schalke's Heiko Westerman and Stuttgart's Serdar Tasci have gained valuable international experience over the past couple of years. Holger Badstuber who played for Bayern Munich in the recent Champions League Final should make his first international appearance at the tournament.

On the flipside of Ballack's injury is that their midfield now looks pretty inexpereinced with only two players having played double figure internationals - Bastian Schweinsteiger and Hamburg's Piotr Trochowski. On the plus side they have the new German hero and former Rot-Weiss Essen apprentice Mesut Özil set to lead the midfield but despite his undoubted skill he does lack international and tournament experience.

Their two most experienced strikers are Miroslav Klose and Lucas Podolski who both scored heavily in the 2006 tournament. However, neither have been in great form for their respective clubs this season with the goalscoring burden likely to fall on Bundesliga tranfer record signing Mario Gomes or the Brazilian-born Cacau.

Ghana, Serbia and Australia are Germany's opponents in the Group stages from which they are fully expected to qualify as belied by their 1.26 odds on Betfair.

1 – Manuel Neuer (FC Schalke 04)
2 – Marcell Jansen (Hamburger SV)
3 – Arne Friedrich (Hertha BSC Berlin)
4 – Dennis Aogo (Hamburger SV)
5 – Serdar Tasci (VfB Stuttgart)
6 – Sami Khedira (VfB Stuttgart)
7 – Bastian Schweinsteiger (FC Bayern München)
8 – Mesut Özil (Werder Bremen)
9 – Stefan Kießling (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
10 – Lukas Podolski (1. FC Köln)
11 – Miroslav Klose (FC Bayern München)
12 – Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen)
13 – Thomas Müller (FC Bayern München)
14 – Holger Badstuber (FC Bayern München)
15 – Piotr Trochowski (Hamburger SV)
16 – Philipp Lahm (FC Bayern München)
17 – Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen)
18 – Toni Kroos (Bayer Leverkusen)
19 – Cacau (VfB Stuttgart)
20 – Jerome Boateng (Hamburger SV)
21 – Marko Marin (Werder Bremen)
22 – Jörg Butt (Bayern München)
23 – Mario Gomez (FC Bayern München)

Germany to win the World Cup now 9/1

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Comments (4)

Tony Concannon said:

... Great stuff Dave. I thought Badstuber looked dodgy for Bayern against Man Utd this season. He should try to extinguish his cigarettes... sorry, the opposition much better.

May 24, 2010

Dave said:

... Sorry for the lack of puns. Should have mentioned Toni Kroos - possibly one of the coolest World Cup names. There are some puns in there put they would not translate very well. The Germans will be hoping Lahm stays injury free (Lahm in German means lame as in bad leg and not lame joke like that one. Schweinsteiger sounds funny to Germans as it translates as Pigclimber.

May 24, 2010

dave said:

... I could also have said Trasch was a bit rubbish but I didn't

May 25, 2010

Tony Concannon said:

... At least you stayed away from Butt... sorry, that links me back to Badstuber. Is it Dragan Butt or do you have your own rules?

May 25, 2010