Euro 2008: Germany Squad

Germany is a big power in world football. Germany has a long tradition of football and produced many legendary footballers in the past and there is no doubt, Germany is one of the top favorites of Euro 2008 competition. EURO 2008 tournament is going to kick off from 7 June, which will continue till 29 June. Austria and Switzerland are jointly organizing the tournament this year. Germany has remarkable success both in FIFA World Cup and European Championship. In fact, they won both the tournaments thrice until now. Last time Germany won EURO trophy was in EURO 1996 in England. However, their performance in the previous two tournaments tournament of Euro was not satisfactory at all, as they crashed out of the tournament from the first round in both EURO 200 and 2004 tournaments. So, German fans are eagerly waiting to see some impressive performance from Germany this time around. Considering the recent performance of European Championship, you may think that Germany has not been playing well in the last five or six years. However, the truth is that Germany was the finalists of 2002 FIFA World Cup and the third place winner of 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Germany won their spot in EURO 2008 finishing second in Group D of qualifying round, where Czech Republic become the group winner. So, German fans are not happy, even though they got into the final tournament. They suffered a humiliated defeat to Czech Republic in Munich in front of the home crowd. It is true that the performance of qualifying round and the performance of final tournament is different. So, it is expected that Germany will appear as a tougher competitor in Euro 2008 competition. Germany has been drawn in Group B where they will face Poland, Croatia and Austria. So, it is clear that Germany is the most favorite to get into the next round from this group. However, I think, the task would not easy for Germany to secure a spot in the quarter final of Euro 2008 tournament. Croatia is an emerging side in Europe, who got into the final tournament becoming the winner of the group of qualifying round, even though England was also in the same group. Poland is also a good side, while Austria will have home advantage in the tournament. The schedule of Germany’s group stage matches is given here:

Date	Competing Teams	Venue
8 June 2008 Sunday	Germany vs Poland	Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt
12 June 2008 Thursday	Germany vs Croatia	Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt
16 June 2008 Monday	Germany vs Austria	Ernst Happel, Vienna

Germany has some excellent footballers with lots of experience and talent. The squad Germany coach Joachim Loew announced recently seems to be balanced. At first, Loew declared a 26-men preliminary squad earlier this month, but the coach reduced it to 23 as every team is allowed to have a 23-men squad for the tournament including three mandatory goalkeepers. The surprise omission was 19 year old midfielder Marko Marin, whose inclusion in the preliminary squad was also a surprise to many. Actually, it was expected that Marko Marin would make it to the final 23, after Coach Joachim Loew became impressed with his performance in the training camp. The midfielder of Borussia Moenchengladbach, who promoted to the league from second division last season, debuted for Germany in their 2-2 draw against Belarus in a friendly match. Two other players who dropped from the final 23 are midfielder Jermaine Jones and striker Patrick Helmes. Interestingly, Helmes also played in the second division last season and his club Cologne was also promoted to the first division. Jermaine Jones is the striker of Schalke who failed to make it to the final squad. Some football specialists are not happy with the 23-man squad of Germany for Euro 2008 tournament because there are some veterans who are underperformed at this moment and some have injury problem too. However, Coach Joachim Loew, who took over from Jurgen Klinsmann after the end of 2006 World Cup, thinks that all of the three dropped players were impressive in the training and deserved a place in the squad.

Joachim Loew included 15 members of the Germany squad of 2006 world cup in the squad for Euro 2008 tournament. 35-year old striker Oliver Neuville was also included in the final squad. The only newcomer in the squad is Rene Adler who is likely to sit on the sideline as a reserve goalkeeper. Actually, I think, there will not be many changes in the final 11 of Germany that played almost regularly during 2006 world cup tournament.

In the defense, Christoph Metzelder, Per Mertesacker and Philipp Lahm are pretty much confirmed for Germany’s defense. Marcell Jansen is considered to be the likely left back in the final line up of Germany. Coach Low always likes 4-4-2 formation and it is expected that he will make his plan based on this formation during Euro 200 competition and Miroslav Klose is considered to be in the up front, while Kevin Kuranyi or Mario Gómez or Lukas Podolski will be seen in the role of a second striker or a deep lying center forward. Mario Gómez is the 2007 German Player of the Year award winner. So, Low has a number of options for this position. In the midfield, Torsten Frings seems to be an automatic choice in the central midfield, alongside Michael Ballack. Low can either play two wingers alongside Torsten Frings and Michael Ballack in the center. However, Ballack could play as a deep lying midfielder that he did during 2002 World Cup, with two holding midfielders. I think, Ballack should be brought in a playmaker’s role in the midfield which would create more chances for Klose and help the second striker too in the matches.

I think, the squad Germany has for Euro 2008 can produce something special for German fans in Euro 2008 with their talent and experience in evidence. So, if you are a fan of German football team, then you should hold your patience and belief in Germany. Her, I am giving the full squad of Germany for Euro 2008 competition from BBC:

Goalkeepers: Jens Lehmann (Arsenal), Robert Enke (Hanover 96), Rene Adler (Bayer Leverkusen)

Defenders: Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Marcell Jansen (Bayern Munich), Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen), Heiko Westermann (Schalke 04)

Midfielders: Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Thomas Hitzlsperger (VfB Stuttgart), Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg SV), Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen)

Forwards: David Odonkor (Real Betis), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich), Mario Gomez (VfB Stuttgart), Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke 04), Oliver Neuville (Borussia Moenchengladbach)

Related article:

CNN

Guardian

Euro 2008

BBC

England vs Germany 2007 Preview

On 22 August 2007, England is going to play against Germany in an international friendly match in Wembley stadium. The fans are excited about the match and the media of both the countries are highlighting the match even from one week ago. The bad news is that because of injuries, the fans will miss some key players and that will make the two teams weak. However, that will not take away the excitement from the fans. They will want their teams to triumph in the match. Here, is a detailed preview of the match.

German Squad

Squad: T Hildebrand (Valencia), J Lehmann (Arsenal); A Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), C Fritz (Werder Bremen), M Jansen (Bayern Munich), P Lahm (Bayern Munich), P Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), C Metzelder (Real Madrid), S Tasci (Stuttgart); R Hilbert (Stuttgart), T Hitzlsperger (Stuttgart), S Khedira (Stuttgart), S Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), B Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen), B Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), P Trochowski (Hamburg); P Helmes (Cologne), S Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen), M Klose (Bayern Munich), K Kuranyi (Schalke)

England Squad

Goalkeepers: Paul Robinson (Tottenham), David James (Portsmouth), Scott Carson (Aston Villa).

Defenders: Micah Richards (Manchester City), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), John Terry (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Sol Campbell (Portsmouth), Steven Taylor (Newcastle), Phil Neville (Everton), Nicky Shorey (Reading).

Midfielders: David Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Chelsea), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Kieron Dyer (West Ham), Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United).

Strikers: Alan Smith (Newcastle), Michael Owen (Newcastle), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Darren Bent (Tottenham), Andrew Johnson (Everton), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham).

Live in ESPN for Asian Viewers

Fortunately, for the people living in Asia, there is a good news. England vs Germany match of 22 August will be broadcast live in ESPN channel on that day. The match will take place at 2 am of 23^rd August of India time and 2:30 am of 23^rd August 2007 Bangladesh time. For your timing, you should visit Espnstar website and then find your schedule.

I am very happy that ESPN is going to broadcast this match live. The good news is that if you can not remain awake so late then you can watch the match later on 23^rd August day time. So, be with ESPN on that day and watch live England vs Germany match.

http://www.espnstar.com/tvtimes/tvtimes_index.jsp

This is the link you should visit.

England vs Germany 2007 without Michael Ballack

The bad news for Germany is that German Captain Michael Ballack will not be able to play the match because of injury. You know that Michael Ballack is a player of English club Chelsea and he is experienced about English league. His experience would help the German team a lot. Unfortunately, he has been suffering from ankle injury and he has not sill become ok. So, it will be bad for the German team to miss one of their key players in the match.

Online Live Scores

I know that though many of you are keen to watch the match, some of you will not be able to watch the match on television because your personal or professional business. Thinking of the passionate supporters, I am now giving some website links that provide online live scores of international and major league matches below:
Goal.com
Live-football-scores
Sportpress
Footie Scorez
Live Score
Goalzz

It is true that some notable players are injured and that will take away some of the beauty of the match. However, this match is important for both the countries as we have just less than one year before Euro 2008 and both England and Germany would want to win that tournament. So, both the countries want to win this match and feel good about their position in European football.

England vs Germany 2007: Wayne Rooney Injured

Wayne Rooney is undoubtedly the no. 1 striker of England national team at this moment. He is very influential and he can score goals with ease. He is a striker that it is very difficult for the opponent defense to stop and that is why, Wayne Rooney is so scary for the opponent teams. I am sure that the Germany will be very happy that they will not have to face Wayne Rooney in this upcoming match between England and Germany on Wembley stadium on 22 August 2007.

Wayne Rooney is injured and he will not be able to play for two months. That means that Wayne Rooney will not only miss the international friendly match against Germany but he will also miss at least next two matches of England in EURO 2008 qualifiers. England coach Steve McClaren feels that Wayne Rooney’s injury was a bad news but he has to mover on and find alternatives. Good thing is that Michael Owen is going to play in this match and England has some good strikers playing English premier league. So, he has some players to replace Wayne Rooney. However, the thing is that Wayne Rooney is so exceptional and highly talented striker that it is impossible to find an alternative in the premier league at this moment. So, I am sure England will be weaker in the absence of Wayne Rooney in match against Germany. What do you think? Do you agree with me? Do you think that Wayne Rooney’s presence could make a difference in this match?

England vs Germany 2007: What about David Beckham

David Beckham is no longer in his prime form but he is still a good player. David Beckham is a very good midfielder and he is good at taking free kicks and corner kicks. David Beckham is now playing the USA for an American team Los Angles Galaxy and until now he could not play for the team fulltime as he is not hundred percent fit. David Beckham is not yet totally fit but England Coach Steve McClaren is hopeful that Beckham can recover in time to come to play in England for the match against Germany. The bad news is that next week David Beckham will have to play to matches in major league soccer for his team Los Angles Galaxy. Los Angles Galaxy will play against DC United first on next Wednesday and then next Saturday. So, these matches are very important for the club. I do not know how David Beckham can make three games in just five days as he is not yet hundred percent fit.

Of course, if David Beckham can play for England in the match then it will give English team a big boost as England is already missing some of their key players due to injury. However, if David Beckham is not fully fit and Steve McClaren wants him to play then it can backfire for England because Germany is not a weak team that you can play your players who are not so fit. David Beckham’s presence will also create a lot of interest in America about this match as David Beckham is now becoming a celebrity in USA.

England vs Germany: Steve McClaren and Injury

The match between England and Germany is going to take place next week in England. This is an international friendly match but because of the traditional rivalry between these two countries in politics and football, this match has become a matter of prestige for the fans. So there is a lot of pressure on English coach to perform well in this match. However, the bad news for England coach is that some of his key players are now injured and they can not take part in this match. For example, England is now without Wayne Rooney who is their best striker at the moment. Wayne Rooney is injured and can not play not only in this match but also for the next two months. If the news of Wayne Rooney is bad news then the worst news is that influential midfielder of England team Steven Gerrard is also injured and can not take part in this match. Steven Gerrard is perhaps the most successful and influential midfielder for England team at this moment. He plays for Liverpool in English premier league. So, these two injuries will make life difficult for Steve McClaren. He needs to motivate his players and encourage to fill the gap of Rooney and Gerrard Then he has to also think of David Beckham. It is not sure that if David Beckham can come to England for this match or not. You know that David Beckham is at this moment in America. David Beckham is suffering from injury too and he is hundred percent fit. So if he can come to play for England team then it will be good for England.

Now, the time has come for Frank Lampard to show that he is as good as Steven Gerrard and can motivate other players. Lampard also plays in the midfield and he is playing for Chelsea. The good news is that Michael Owen is going to come back and play for England in this match. So, Michael Owen will have to fill the gap of Wayne Rooney and prove that he is still the no. 1 striker of England. If you are an English fan then pray for him. Science does not look so good for him.

England vs Germany without Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard is the Captain of English premier league club Liverpool and he is also an important member of English national team. England is going to face Germany next week on 22 August in Wembly stadium. It seems that Steven Gerrard will not be in the English national team. Steven Gerrard has suffered injury last week when his club Liverpool played against Toulouse. Liverpool won the match away at Toulouse but Steven Gerrard suffered a bad injury. Now, Liverpool is going to play against Chelsea on this Sunday. Liverpool manager has decided that Steven Gerrard will play in the match as it is a very big and important match for Liverpool club. However, if Steven Gerrard plays in this match against Chelsea then he can not take part in the match between England and Germany.

Steven Gerrard is already some injured. Thus, the Liverpool coach is taking some risk by putting him to play in the match against Chelsea this Sunday. So, after that Steven Gerrard will need good rest to become ok. I know that England coach will not be happy about this matter as Steven Gerrard is a very important player for the national team and he is an influential midfield player. However, Steven Gerrard earns his living by playing for Liverpool in the premier league. In fact for two times Steven Gerrard has got the award of most valuable player in premier league and he has been awarded UEFA most valuable player 2. Steven Gerrard was also nominated for the Fifa Player of the Year award on 2005 and 2006. He did not become Fifa Player of the year but it shows that he is a great footballer. So, English fans will surely miss Steven Gerrard in the match against Germany.

England vs Germany 2007: German Squad

Germnay Coach Joachim Löw has finalized his squad for England vs Germany international friendly match which is going to take place on 22 August in Wembley stadium. You already know that German captain Michael Ballack is suffering from injury, so he can not play in this match. So, German coach could not include Michael Ballack in his 20 men squad. There are not many big surprises in this squad except that he called two new players in the squad. The coach has included Jens Lehmann as the goal keeper. Jens Lehmann plays for English club Arsenal in English premier league and he is one of the most skilled goal keepers in premier league at this moment. Except Lehman I could not find any other player in the German squad who is currently playing in English league. Of course, if Michael Ballack could play then he could be the second premier league player to be included in German squad. You know that Michael Ballack plays for Chelsea and he is one of the most successful players for Germany in the last few decades. The German squad looks strong and solid and they have some good players. Let us see how they play. Here, I am giving the names of 20 players in German squad:

Squad: T Hildebrand (Valencia), J Lehmann (Arsenal); A Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), C Fritz (Werder Bremen), M Jansen (Bayern Munich), P Lahm (Bayern Munich), P Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), C Metzelder (Real Madrid), S Tasci (Stuttgart); R Hilbert (Stuttgart), T Hitzlsperger (Stuttgart), S Khedira (Stuttgart), S Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), B Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen), B Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), P Trochowski (Hamburg); P Helmes (Cologne), S Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen), M Klose (Bayern Munich), K Kuranyi (Schalke)

England vs Germany 2007 without Michael Ballack

England vs Germany international friendly is going to take place on 22 August 2007. English team has already announced their squad and now Germany has also announced its team for the match. The bad news for Germany is that German Captain Michael Ballack will not be able to play the match because of injury. You know that Michael Ballack is a player of English club Chelsea and he is experienced about English league. His experience would help the German team a lot. Unfortunately, he has been suffering from ankle injury and he has not sill become ok. So, it will be bad for the German team to miss one of their key players in the match.

IHT reported:

Michael Ballack will definitely miss Germany's friendly against England next week, and coach Joachim Loew has called up two rookies from Bundesliga champion Stuttgart.

Ballack, the Chelsea midfielder and Germany captain, is still recovering from ankle surgery.

Loew included rookies Sami Khedira, a midfielder, and defender Serdar Tasci in the 20-man squad he announced Thursday.

Michael Ballack is an influential player of German team. His performance for Germany is unquestionable and he has helped his national team for many occasions to win. On the other hand, I think that Michael Ballack should not think of football at this moment and try to recover from his injury as soon as possible. If he can recover very quickly then soon he will be able to play more important matches for Germany in the coming days. So, if you are a German fan then you should pray for Michael Ballack to recover very quickly.

England vs Germany 2007: Live in ESPN

Now, there are just few days left before the international friendly match between England and Germany. You already know that this match will be played in Wembley stadium of England. So, England will be the host country and naturally England will have home advantage as most of the fans will come to the stadium will be supporters of England. This match is an international friendly match but England vs Germany is always very attractive and fans are always eager to know the result of this match. Fortunately, for the people living in Asia, there is a good news. England vs Germany match of 22 August will be broadcast live in ESPN channel on that day. The match will take place at 2 am of 23^rd August of India time and 2:30 am of 23^rd August 2007 Bangladesh time. For your timing, you should visit Espnstar website and then find your schedule.

I am very happy that ESPN is going to broadcast this match live. The good news is that if you can not remain awake so late then you can watch the match later on 23^rd August day time. So, be with ESPN on that day and watch live England vs Germany match.

http://www.espnstar.com/tvtimes/tvtimes_index.jsp

This is the link you should visit.

England vs Germany 2007: Great Rivals Playing

England vs Germany is one of the most fascinating rivalries in world football today. Actually, the people of England consider three footballing nations as their bitter rival. They are Germany, Scotland and Argentina. You know that Scotland is a part of Great Britain but the people of Scotland have a longstanding rivalry with the people of England. On the other hand, Argentina and England fought over Falkland Islands in the early part of 1980s. Since then, Argentina and England have become bitter rivals and when they play the supporters of these two countries become very passionate about their teams. However, England vs Germany is a rivalry that goes back to the WWII. In the WWII, Britain and Germany fought and since then in football, whenever these two teams play always the fans get excited and are eager to see that their team can win. England and Germany have met each other several times in European cup football and world cup football. Both teams scored some nice wins and denied the opposite team’s glory.

It is nice to see that England and Germany are going to each other on 22 August. The match is going to take place in historical the Wembley stadium. The match will start at 8 pm. However, this match is an international friendly match. So, the result should not matter so much as it is going to be a friendly match. However, for the fans, it is more than friendly. They want their team to thrash the opposition. English players are going to play with white shirts while the Germans footballer will have red shirts. We already know the match officials. England team has also announced their squad and German team is expected to announce their squad shortly. This match is going to come at a crucial time. In the last world cup 2006, England had a disastrous condition and English team played miserably. As a result, English fans are waiting eagerly to see England can thrash Germany in this match.

Germany also could not satisfy its supporters in world cup 2006 although world cup 2006 was played in Germany. So, German supporters are now eagerly waiting to see their national team defeating England convincingly in the upcoming friendly match so that they can have some celebration.

The match has come at a nice time because the new season of European football has just started. New season of English league and German league has just started. So, most of the players are fresh.