I like the German physical and methodical style of play. They do not have the finesse of say the Italian or South American teams, and they are not as scattered as the English team. The German team put together a great effort against the Dutch team this last week, and Holland was fortunate to pull out a draw. As an Italian fan I always cringe when they have to play Germany because I know there will be a lot of fouls and some sore players afterwards.
Tainted referee encouraged player to dive:
https://cbs.sportsline.com/soccer/story/8185578
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FRANKFURT, Germany -- The referee at the center of Germany's game-fixing scandal encouraged a player to fake a foul and earn a penalty kick during a game rigged by the official. |
This current era is pretty shocking when you consider some German teams of the past. Michael Ballack is their only truly world class player, Oli Kahn was in that class. I can't see the hosts winning it at this stage.
I'm not a huge fan of Germanies robotic style of play, I prefer latin flair!
Defensively, Germany are one of the best. You can see this from their way of playing, strategy, formation and their method in going forward.
There is a franchise of computer football called FIFA which produces soccer football games yearly. They do their best to model teams after team ethos and origin so you get quite a good and realistic simulation of football.
Get this though, during the World Cyber Games, for the FIFA football category, all the top gaming clans including sK of South Korea have picked Germany. This is because Germany is the strongest footballing nation in the game however that might not be as accurate in real life.
I believe what Malexander said about German football to be true, that it is in decline. I also believe that this is attributed to the Union of East and West Germany, once they united, they started declining. This however is different for I believe Slovakia and another nation who split and hence Czechoslovakia who is now 2nd ranked in FIFA world rankings.
Just food for thought.
Message Edited! Persephone: Removed off topic comments. Threads are not considered 'old' here |
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I also believe that this is attributed to the Union of East and West Germany |
School offers crash soccer course for women
Reuters - A German adult education center is offering a women-only crash course on the basics of soccer to prepare them for next year's World Cup.
Ref. https://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...ermany_women_dc
The German international team is basically what it is at face value - a team. The Germans play a good, passing game, with Ballack right at the center of it. But that is, I believe, their weak link: Ballack. He is their conductor, he is their instrumentalist, he is basically the entire German ensemble packed into one player. I know some say that without him Germany is without its core, but I think that it is for the better for the German squad. They rely too much on Ballack, and crumble when he isn't around to play for them.
I didn't watch the Italy game myself, so I really couldn't judge the German performance - I dislike working with secondhand info - but I do believe that it is about time that they actually stick together as a team team, rather than Ballack's team, before it is too late.
That, and the fact that I don't think Klinsmann is right for the job - personal opinion.