I started writing this two-match report after the first instalment of Germany’s much-criticised post-season (or should I say tail of the season) tour against Ecuador in Boca Raton, but the second match against the United States would leave me somewhat
A Weird Encounter in Washington
It’s a warm and humid afternoon in Washington DC, and both teams make their way out into the RFK Memorial Stadium for what is the Nationalmannschaft’s final game of what has been a fantastic season for German football. The game
Fastest Goals and Florida Flattery
The two teams walk out to a sparsely-populated stadium in Boca Raton, where most of the support appears to be for the yellow-shirted South Americans. It is a cloudy and somewhat humid afternoon in Florida, with a slight breeze and
Retained, Recalled, Recruited.
So, we have our squad of twenty-three players for the two-match tour of the United States, numbered from one to twenty-four with no number nineteen. Weird. Maybe Paul Hardcastle had something to do with it. With the entire core contingent
Kazakhstan v Germany: Match Analysis and Player Ratings
Having suffered the ignominy of blowing a four-goal lead in Berlin against Sweden at the end of 2012, Joachim Löw’s German side would look to get the 2013 leg of their campaign off to a winning start against Kazakhstan in
Professional, workmanlike, and three more points safely in the bag.
With the game not being show here in the UK it was stream time again, and luckily I was able to find a decent and fairly stable pipeline of ARD’s coverage where I was greeted by the familar tones of
A Strikerless Mannschaft?
Fritz Walter. Uwe Seeler. Gerd Müller. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. Rudi Völler. Jürgen Klinsmann. Oliver Bierhoff. Miroslav Klose: over the years, Germany has always been blessed with a centre-forward that anyone can call world class. For as long as we all can
France v Germany: Match Analysis and Player Ratings
As had been the case in 2012, Germany would kick off their footballing year against France – the second in two pre-arranged friendly encounters between the two sides. In Bremen the French had gone away with a 2-1 win against
Demolition in Dublin: Six of the Best
It’s a cool but dry evening in Dublin, and the home side take to the field in their traditional green and white ensemble with Germany in their familiar Schwarz und Weiß.
Germany v Faroe Islands: Schmelzer to start?
As the Mannschaft take their first steps on the road to Brazil 2014, here we are with our first short pre-match team news bulletin. Usually Nationaltrainer Jogi Löw springs the odd surprise just prior to a match, but this time
World Cup Qualifiers: Squad News
So, it’s time for the start of the long road to Brazil, and the first World Cup Qualifiers against the Faroe Islands in Hannover (7th September) followed by a short trip across the border to Austria (11th September) – two
Germany v Argentina: Match Analysis and Player Ratings
A new start to a new season, and the Nationalmannschaft’s fourth defeat of 2012 – the most reverses in a calendar year since Joachim Löw wook over as Nationaltrainer in 2006. But it was not all bad news. Despite the