Lucas Podolski
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A week before the 2006 World Cup kicked off in Germany Franz Beckenbauer was sceptical that a side under the California influenced Juergen Klinsmann could deliver on the expectations of a nation, which it had to be noted, were extremely high. The achievement of Beckenbauer and company in 1974 against Holland at the Olympic Stadion in Muenich and then again as manager in Italia 1990 meant that his words to us that evening had to be taken seriously.
In the end Klinsmann, with Joachim Löw's as his Number 2, got the side to the semi finals which the Kaiser visibly celebrated with Prime Minister Angela Merkel in Berlin when Argentina were beaten on penalties at the Olympic Stadion in the quarter finals. The loss to Italy after extra time in the semi-finals was not a bad achievement from a side that was not expected to deliver at the outset.
To boot the top scorer for the 2006 World Cup was Miroslav Klose and in third place was his team mate, Lucas Podolski.
In 2010 the words from Beckenbauer have been a repeat of four years ago with Germany's preparations hit by the injuries to captain Michael Ballack, goalkeeper Rene Adler, defender Heiko Westermann and midfielders Simon Rolfes and Christian Traesch. Life without their chief play maker Ballack will be tough according to Beckenbauer but at the same time he believes his country's never-say-die attitude will pull them through.
"Ballack is the most important player in the German team. When the big players aren't there at the World Cup they are missed. But if the other players are able to give 5-10 per cent more, you can balance that out ... and the team can get to the final," said Franz Beckenbauer.
Remarkably though, at 25 years old, Podolski is among the most experienced players in the squad, having won 73 caps and with only three of their squad over the age of 30, Germany went into this tournament with a backbone of players from the European under-21 championship-winning team in 2009. These include Manuel Neuer, Marko Marin, Khedira, Toni Kroos, Mesut Oezil and Jerome Boateng.
After all the worry Joachim Löw's team proved too strong for Australia beating them 4-0, albeit a ten man side, it remains to be seen how they will react against their opponents Serbia and Ghana to see if they are contenders.
Miroslav Klose went into the match hoping to find his form given the 32-year-old has scored 48 times in 96 games for his country but struggled for goals with his club, Bayern Munich, last season. Indeed, Klose's last international goal came in the 1-0 World Cup qualifying win away to Russia last October leaving the memories of being the top scorer in 2006a distant memory.
On paper, Löw's squad did not look like a match for the some of the big names Spain, Brazil, Argentina or England prior to the game in Durban on Sunday night. But it would not be the first time Germany slipped into a major tournament unrated and reaching the final without anyone really noticing. Turn the clock back to 1982 or even just two years ago, when they reached the final of Euro 2008.
"It is often the case that when an important player is missing others step up and fill the space, and I expect this to happen in South Africa," says former German skipper Lothar Matthäus. "Michael Ballack will be missed but the team will come closer and remain strong. German teams are always well-organised, disciplined and difficult to defeat."
The last time [West] Germany met Australia in a World Cup was in 1974 with Beckenbauer as captain in the game played at the Hamburg Volkstadion. One of the three scorers that day was Gerd Mueller, who would go on to become the tournament’s highest scorer that summer wity the 13th of those goals the winner in the final against the Johan Cruyff's Clockwork Orange.
In the EURO 2008 Germany came out their group with only one defeat to Croatia and wins against Poland and Austria. In their quarter final line up Portugal were despatched by 3 goals to 2 with Germany then winning the semi finals against Turkey by a similar score line.
In the final though Germany lost out to a Fernando Torres goal after Philipp Lahm was unable to halt the Liverpool striker in the 33rd minute on that summer night in Vienna. Ominously enough Lucas Podolski was amongst the top scorers of the tournament with three goals.
So far in the 2010 World Cup both Klose and Podolski have started with goals in their first game – so the signs are looking very familiar
©OSM
First published June 14th 2010
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