Blog Total Football
By Tim Leberecht - June 14, 2010
What does it say about the World Cup when the most beautiful football is played by the Germans? Is the quality of the competition so low or are the Germans so good? After the 4-0 thumping of the Australians, pundits are heaping praise on the "Mannschaft" and declaring it (somewhat prematurely) to be the favorite for the title.
No one really knew what to expect from Joachim Loew’s young side (average age is 24.5), but the Germans are, as former national coach Juergen Klinsmann put it on ABC, “always ready when it matters.” Well, we’ve known all along that the football god is at least half-German, and no one has described the deeply rooted respect for German teams better than Gary Lineker’s famous quip: “Football is when 11 men play against 11 men and Germany wins.”
Blog Total Football
By Till Grusche - June 5, 2010
6 more days to go... and Germany has just finished its training camp with an impressive 3:1 vs Bosnia Herzegovina. It was an exciting victory, not so much because of the result against an opponent that was not in best physical condition. It was impressive because the "Mannschaft" actually demonstrated something in the second half I haven't seen from a German team for a long time: A pure joy of playing. Short-pass combination football finally worked out, and although the defense was struggling now and then, the offense potential of this young team is very promising.
