Appearances: 16 appearances (Last appearance in 2006. Champions in 1954, '74, '90)
Current FIFA Ranking (As of March 3): 5
Captain: Michael Ballack (Midfielder)
Leading Scorer in Qualifying: Miroslav Klose (Striker) - 7 goals
Key Injuries: Simon Rolfes (Midfielder) - Right knee injury: Questionable for World Cup.
Key retirements since 2006: Jens Lehmann (Goalkeeper), Oliver Kahn (Goalkeeper), Torsten Frings (Midfielder), Oliver Neuville (Striker), Bernd Schneider (Midfielder)
Team Overview:
When you think World Cup, one of the teams that comes to mind is the German squad. The World Cup has been held 19 times and Germany has been in 17 of them. They withdrew from the very first World Cup in 1930 due to their concerns of traveling to Argentina (the site of that year's World Cup). They were also banned from the 1950 World Cup because the country had been split into East and West Germany after World War II.
Germany has historically been one of the most successful World Cup countries ever. They have won three times, gotten second place four times, and third place three times. They have failed to at least reach the quarterfinals only twice, with the last being in 1978. They have reached the semi-finals in five of the last seven World Cups so a deep run by the Germans will surprise no one.
However, one thing that has coach Joachim Low worried is the state of his goalkeeper position. Legendary German goalkeepers Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann both retired after the 2006 World Cup, leaving the position in the hands of Robert Enke. However, unbeknown to the team and the rest of the world, Enke had been battling depression since 2004. Following the growing pressure of leading his national team and grief due to the death of his 2-year-old daughter in 2006, Enke committed suicide in November of 2009 when he jumped in front of a moving train.
As the team and nation grieved, the question soon became who would be the new goalkeeper. The position would fall into the hands of 25-year-old Rene Adler, who has only played in 9 international games. Since being named the starter, Rene has struggled in his time as the keeper for the German squad as well as his club team. He recently made a huge mistake in Germany's friendly match against Argentina.
One of the greatest soccer players of all time, and fellow German, Franz Beckenbauer recently said that Adler has been making "one error after the other" in the past couple of months. Adler will need his backline to play at the top of their game so that he will not have to do too much.
Luckily for Adler, the German defense is one of the best in the world. Per Mertesacker and Arne Friedrich will play in the center back position. Both are 6-feet tall, with Mertesacker standing an imposing 6-foot 6-inches. He has been known to be a weapon in scoring headers on set pieces and consequently, it is just as difficult to have successful set pieces against the German squad.
The sideback of note for the Germans is Philipp Lahm. He is one of the best sidebacks in the world, and was nominated for the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year and the 2007 trophy as well. He constantly puts pressure on the opposition and is a great crosser. He was also the only player to play all 90 minutes in all 10 of Germany's qualifying matches. Look for him to be an integral part of the German success. He and the others helped Germany in allowing only five goals during qualifying, although Enke was the starting keeper for those games.
Captain Michael Ballack is the catalyst for the German midfield. The ever present icon stands in the top ten in both goals scored and caps for the German squad. He could conceivably move into the top five of both lists if he has a good tournament. This will, however, most likely be his final World Cup so he is itching to get to the top of the podium. As one of the greatest German players of all time, Ballack definitely wants to end his international career with a World Cup trophy. Interestingly enough, since 2006, Germany has not lost a game when Ballack has scored a goal. Maybe they can force feed him a bit to keep that record going.
Playing alongside Ballack will be veterans Thomas Hitzlsperger, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Piotr Trochowski. All are solid players and will not be intimidated when they must go against the bigger name teams. A player that could make a name for himself is Simon Rolfes. He is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world, but has struggled with injuries and is currently trying to rehab from a right knee problem. His play allows Ballack to roam freely in midfield so that he can be more of a force during the game. Without Rolfes, Ballack must concentrate on defending more than he wants to, which can bog down the German attack. At the moment, it is unknown if Rolfes will be healthy enough to play. If he is, he will most likely start in place of Trochowski.
The forward position will be played by two men, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski. Both are prolific goalscorers, each scoring at least one goal in every other game. They form a great partnership and are effective with their feet and in the air. They combined for 13 of Germany's 26 goals in qualifying. If either of them were to get injured or somehow fail to play well, Mario Gomez is more than ready to make a difference.
Player to Watch: Miroslav Klose
Klose has done one thing for the Germans, score goals. He has an incredible record in World Cups, scoring 10 goals in his two World Cups. This leaves him five behind the all-time record set by Brazilian forward Ronaldo. Klose stands second on his country's all time goal list, 20 goals behind the amazing Gerd Muller. Muller amazingly had more goals (68) than games played for Germany (62), one of the few players worldwide to ever have that kind of achievement. Klose scored his seven qualifying goals in only eight games so he is still on fire in international tournaments.
Klose is an effective player on the ground and in the air. He scored six of his 10 World Cup goals from headers. He is not a fast player so don't look for him to be making long runs. He'll hang around the net or penalty box area and cause havoc from those places. With the questions that have arisen in the German keeper position, Klose will have to score (and do his front flips) often to keep Germany's run of success going.
Prediction: Loss to Spain in the semi-finals. Loss to England in the third place game.
The final squad will not be announced until June 10 but here is a small list of players in the running to make the team.
Match Schedule
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