Onus on Germany to script more history
Out of the 18 tournaments Die Mannschaft have competed at, only twice have they failed to reach the knockout phase.
What you need to know:
- Team Countdown - Germany.
- The Germans have made such a habit of qualifying for the final rounds of the World Cup you start to think it should be given a bye to the quarter-finals.
- No other team in football has presented as much certainty of an appearance in the last eight - at the very least - as the Germans have.
- Out of the 18 tournaments Die Mannschaft have competed at, only twice have they failed to reach the knockout phase.
- In 2014, the team managed a fourth consecutive semi appearance, and that is a record even the Brazilians cannot match.
Qualification was achieved with customary ease, but Joachim Löw’s men will have to be wary about the recent record of World Cup winners at the subsequent tournament - neither Italy in 2006 nor Spain in 2014 made it out of their groups. Yet, with Mexico, Sweden and South Korea as Group F opponents, surely Germany is not going to learn the habit of exiting this tournament at such an early stage this year.
How they play:
Germany plays high-tempo possession football, with a tendency to press opponents high up the pitch once the ball has been lost. A variety of attacking tools are employed, including; passing, crosses and set-pieces.
Strengths:
Germany is able to control most of their games because they have some of the finest midfielders playing at the highest level of the game currently.
Weaknesses:
Die Mannschaft’s iconic goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has hardly played football this season and no replacement to match his level is available. Similarly, coach Löw will hope his best two central defenders (Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels) are fit throughout, because the alternatives to these two are a significant downgrade.
Star Man:
Löw’s boasts world class players from back to front but Toni Kroos has grown into the most outstanding of these, dictating not just his team’s tempo but that of opponents as well.
One to watch: Timo Werner has settled into the starting XI quite well despite him being only 21, and with the kind of supply Germany guarantees, he could join a long list of German forwards who have been big hits at the World Cup.
Prospects: Defending a World Cup title has been something to elude sides which were arguably even better resourced than the Germans are, remember how Spain and France crashed out at the group stages when many fancied them to retain their crowns? For Die Mannschaft, it is now a question of whether they have the hunger to make history, because the quality is certainly there.
FIFA Ranking: 1
Coach: Joachim Löw
Fact file
How they qualified: Finished top of
European qualifying Group C
World Cup Appearances: 18
World Cup Record: 1934 - Third place;
1938 - First round; 1954 - Winners; 1958 -
Fourth place; 1962 - Quarter-finals; 1966
- Runners-up; 1970 - Third place; 1974 -
Winners; 1978 - Second Round; 1982 -
Runners-up; 1986 - Runners- up; 1990 -
Winners; 1994 - Quarter-finals; 1998 -
Quarter-finals; 2002 - Runners-up; 2006 -
3rd place; 2010 - 3rd place; 2014 -Winners
Overall Record: P72, W48, D10, L14
Best Performance: Winners in 1954, 1974,
1990, 2014
World Cup High: Claiming their fourth World
Cup title at the Maracana Stadium after
beating Argentina 1-0.
World Cup Low:
Losing in the 1966 final to England after a
controversial goal from Geoff Hurst.
World Cup Legend:
Franz Beckenbauer captained Germany to
glory in 1974 and them to victory in 1990.
Probable LINE UP
1. Manuel Neuer (captain)
2. Joshua Kimmich
3. Jonas Hector
4. Jerome Boateng
5. Mats Hummels
6. Sami Khedira
7. Toni Kroos
8. Thomas Müller
9. Julian Draxler
10. Mesut Özil
11. Timo Werner
