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Archive for the category “Germany”

06 Jun 2012

Euro 2012 Preview – Group B

With Euro 2012 starting on Friday in Poland and Ukraine, we continue our look at the 16 teams today focusing on Group B, the glamour group of the tournament with Denmark, Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands (or Holland, depending on who you ask).

The Teams
Denmark, currently at No. 9 in FIFA’s world rankings, won all four of its home games in group play, including a 2-1 win against Portugal to clinch the group. Problem is, this tournament isn’t being played in Denmark.
The one thing the Danes do have in their favor is coach Morten Olsen, currently the longest-tenured coach of any national team. Olsen has led the club as it qualified for World Cups in 2002 and 2010 and for the Euros in 2004 and 2012, and that experience will be needed for the squad to have any hope of coming out of the toughest group in the tournament.
The same can be said of captain Daniel Agger, who knows all about playing on the big stage after spending the past six years with Liverpool. Agger’s ongoing injury issues – he only played in four of Denmark’s 10 qualifying matches – are a concern for a squad that doesn’t have much depth.
The Netherlands (No. 4 in FIFA’s rankings) are coming off an ugly loss to Spain in the finals of the last World Cup but enter Euro 2012 in good form, having won nine of their 10 qualifying matches.
With Robin van Persie (48 Premier League goals over the past two years), Arjen Robben (Footballer of the Year in Germany in 2010 for his play with Bayern Munich) and Wesley Sneijder (five goals in thee 2010 World Cup), the Dutch should not have problems scoring goals (and let’s not forget Dirk Kuyt, the hardest-working man in the game), but they need to be more creative, especially if they are going to play Nigel do Jong and Mark van Bommel as holding midfielders.
“The problem with two holding midfielders is quite simple, but somehow many coaches don’t see it,” complained Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, according to ESPN. “The build-up happens too slow; holding midfielders always need that extra touch, always need to have a look when they have the ball already … plus, having two holding midfielders means there is one less creative playmaker.” 
Portugal (No. 10 in FIFA’s rankings) is led by Cristiano Ronaldo, whom ESPN ranks as the No. 1 player in the tournament, and who has 84 goals and 22 assists in 67 games over the past two seasons for his club team, Real Madrid.
The squad struggled in qualifying, though, losing to Denmark and Norway in the group stage before a playoff win over Bosnia & Herzegovina secured a tournament spot.
Then there is Pepe, who some consider one of (it not the) dirtiest players in football. As ESPN points out:
Apart from being dirty, Pepe can be termed, to put it bluntly, a big baby. Not ashamed of clattering into opponents with no intent to win the ball, a faint touch sends the defender down. The latest example of his childish behavior came in the Champions League semifinals against Bayern Munich, when Pepe writhed on the ground after Franck Ribery made mild contact with his arm.
Germany (No. 3 in FIFA’s rankings) is a three-time winner of the tournament and is consistently a favorite in any competition. The team was perfect in group play, finishing 13 points ahead of second-place Turkey. The Germans scored three or more goals in eight of their 10 qualifying matches.
The availability of Bastian Schweinsteiger, who injured his thigh in the Champions League final, was in doubt but the midfielder has been cleared to play which can only be good news for Germany, which looks to end a 16-year title drought.
“This is the best national team I have ever played for,” Schweinsteiger, capped 90 times for Germany and going into his fifth major tournament, told The Daily Mail. “Everyone expects us to win the title and naturally it is something that we also desire.”  
Did You Know?
Germany’s players will be allowed to drink, smoke,tweet and mix with their girlfriends at Euro 2012.
Games to Watch
Pretty much every one of them in this group, and when they are not busy delivering flying karate kicks to the opposition, Holland is just such a good team (plus we have to be partial to any team that has Orange as one of their primary colors). It will most likely come down to the final group game on June 17 between Holland and Portugal, but we think the Dutch will make it through.
Who Will Advance?
Wow, this is a tough one (they don’t call this the Group of Death for nothing, you know). Something really bad would have to happen to see Germany not make it out of this group, and Holland should have enough to advance as well.

For additional coverage, be sure to check out The Daily Mail, The Guardian, EPL Talk and ESPN.

(Photo by Getty Images)
Posted in Cristiano Ronaldo, Denmark, Euro 2012, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal | Leave a comment
07 Jun 2010

World Cup Preview – Group D

This is probably the toughest group in the tournament. Germany should take the top spot; after that it’s a tossup on who among Serbia, Ghana and Australia will take the second qualifying position.

Germany made the semifinals as the host country four years ago, but is in a state of transition as it welcomes some young players to the squad. They are also dealing with the injury to team leader Michael Ballack, a player that coach Joachim Löw called “irreplaceable.” One of the world’s most prolific teams, Germany is facing some difficulties in attack as Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich) has been on the bench for the Bundesliga champions, and Lukas Podolski (Cologne) has scored just three goals this season. The hope is that coach Löw’s belief in the players can bring back their confidence to help lead Germany to another strong World Cup run.

The Germans could be the ones to watch, having breezed through the group stages undefeated. They also have a particularly strong World Cup record, having won the thing three times (1954, 1974, 1990), and made it all the way to the final on a further four occasions (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002). Even if the Germans do emerge winning the group, they could face both Argentina and Spain on the road to another possible final.

Ghana did well last time, emerging from 2006’s “group of death” before losing in the round of 16 to Brazil. That was one of the youngest teams in Germany, so this is essentially the same team, with a few more youngsters thrown in, given that Ghana won the Under-20 World Cup last year. The 20-year-old rising star defender Samuel Inkoom (Basle) is on the team, as are midfielder Agyemang Badu (Udinese), midfielder Dede Ayew (Arlese Avignon), and striker Dominic Adiyah (Milan).

Although it was the first African team to qualify (save for the hosts), Ghana is probably not the best team on the continent, an honor that would go to Ivory Coast or perhaps Cameroon (or even Egypt, which didn’t make the tournament but won the African Nations Cup). In particular, Ghana lacks the striking talent of some of the other African clubs.

This will be the first year that Serbia enters a World Cup as just Serbia. Last time they were shackled by Montenegro, and before that they were more commonly known as Yugoslavia. Hence, all there is to really go on is the qualifying campaign, in which they managed to win their group, which included France and Romania. This is a dangerous team, which plays just the kind of soccer that could thrive at altitude. Unfortunately in the first round, none of its games are at the highest elevations. The White Eagles’ squad includes several stars of European soccer, including Nemanja Vidic — who missed the 2006 tournament with injury — and Dejan Stankovic.

The 20th ranked Aussies are a tenacious, defensive-minded squad who play obstructive, bruising football with little regard for their own safety. This is not to call them reckless, but as any of their first-round opponents last time found out, the Socceroos are a friend to shin guard suppliers everywhere. They play unapologetically slow, brutal soccer. Australia is quite a decent team, but it got this impossible draw so unless it can pull off some unexpected upsets, it could well be going home after three games.

With a veteran squad looking to build on a Round of 16 performance at Germany 2006, Australia will be making a third appearance in the World Cup, yet its first as a representative from the Asian confederation after switching FIFA regions four years ago.

Information for this preview was researched, and more team information is available, here, here, here and here. And also here.

Posted in Germany, Ghana, Serbia, World Cup | Leave a comment

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