Euro 2012 - Germany preview

It’s impossible to say now what the lasting effect will be, but 19 May saw eight of Germany’s national squad first team lose the Champions League Final on German soil to Chelsea. This can have a galvanizing effect for some competitive personalities, but can have a debilitating effect on others who will not want to let their home country down.

Despite that, history is on the side of the Germans who have had a magnificent run of national team form, with top 3 finishes in 4 out of the last 5 national team competitions (Euro and World Cup). This team brings a great veteran core combined with a new young presence to a tournament which they are considered one of the favourites to win. Germany has won the European Championships 3 times.

Road to EURO 2012

Germany won all 10 of its qualifying round matches in Group A taking all 30 possible points from that round. They scored an incredible 34 goals in 10 matches while only conceding 7; their qualifying group consisted of Austria, Belgium, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

Miroslav Klose led the way with 9 goals, the 33-year old has dazzled national team play for the last decade. Their first-place finish in Group A sealed their place in the 2012 Euro Championship tournament. It did not seem in doubt at any time since qualification play began.

Captain / Star players / Young players to watch

Captain: Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich)

Star players: Miroslav Klose (Lazio), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal),

Young players to watch: Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid), Andre Schurrle (Bayer Leverkusen)

The three young stars on the German team have all had significant exposure on the top flight of European football, Ozil with Real Madrid playing alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, he finished the club season leading La Liga in assists with 17. Kroos played in the Champions League Final and will bring plenty of top flight experience to the Euros. Kroos is known for his crafty offensive passing, he likes to drift around the midfield looking for any advantage. Schurrle is a 21-year-old forward, who has had great success coming through the ranks, he is a flashy forward similar to Mario Gomez.

Manager

Joachim Low, the Schonau born former footballer played for many Bundesliga clubs, but spent most of his time with Freiburg. Low also played internationally for West Germany, he made 4 appearances with the West Germans. After spending 2 years as Jurgen Klinsmann’s assistant manager, Low was named manager after the 2006 World Cup. Low has turned Germany into one of the more tactically sound teams in the world, and his attacking-minded philosophy matched with Germany’s traditionally good defence have seen a great run of success between 2005 and today.

Preliminary squad list

4 names from this list will be cut by 29 May

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hanover 96)

Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Arsenal), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Benedikt Hoewedes (Schalke 04), Marcel Schmelzer (Borussia Dortmund)

Midfielders: Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Marco Reus (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Mario Goetze (Borussia Dortmund), Ilkay Gundogan (Borussia Dortmund), Sven Bender (Borussia Dortmund), Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkusen), Andre Schuerrle (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Schalke 04), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal)

Forwards: Cacau (VfB Stuttgart), Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich), Miroslav Klose (Lazio)

Germany fixtures - Group B

Group Stage Fixtures:

Germany v Portugal 9 June 2012, 20:45, Arena Lviv,Lviv (UKR)

Netherlands v Germany 13 June 2012, 20:45, Arena Lviv, Lviv (UKR)

Denmark v Germany 17 June 2012, 20:45, Arena Lviv, Lviv (UKR)

Prediction

There has been no indication that Germany have lost anything since 2010’s 3^rd place finish at the World Cup or 2008’s 2^nd place finish at the Euro Championships.

In fact, I believe they have gained, some of the younger players from those competitions have gained valuable experience and emerged as wonderful players, such as Mario Gomez and Jerome Boateng whereas, only Miroslav Klose has gotten much older, and he dominated their qualification round.

Germany will win all three Group Stage matches, with Netherlands being the biggest test en route to a knock-out round birth.