World Cup 2010 Review: Germany

Current Rank: 4
Expectations going in: Low
Finished: 3rd place

Germany went into the 2010 World Cup with a mixture of youth and veterans, inexperience and experience. Most pundits predicted the German team would struggle to perform up to their usual high standards, especially when talismanic captain Michael Ballack was injured before the beginning and ruled out of the tournament.

With expectations so low, the Mannschaft had nowhere to go but up. In their opening game against Australia, Germany scored early and dominated the match, absolutely destroying the Socceroos 4-0 thanks to goals from Mueller, Podolski, Klose, and Cacau. Almost immediately, the press labeled them once again as contenders for the title, after having finished in 2nd in 2002 and 3rd in 2006.

Cacau punctuated Germany's dominance with the fourth goal against Australia

However, the Germans' group was no easy task, the lopsided score against Australia not withstanding. Germany next played a strong Serbian side, looking to stave off elimination after having lost their first game against Ghana.

The Germans started out strong, but Miroslav Klose accumulated (harshly) 2 yellow cards early on in the match, and the resultant advantage for Serbia resulted in a goal shortly thereafter. However, despite being down to 10 men and losing 1-0, Germany went on to dominate the rest of the match. A penalty midway through the second would have tied the game, but Lukas Podolski saw his shot saved, and the Serbians held on for the win, thereby also giving Germany its first group-stage loss at a World Cup since 1986.

The stage was set, then, for Germany to take its World Cup destiny in its own hands for the last group match against the hitherto undefeated Ghana. Being unable to rely on the predatory instincts in front of goal of Miroslav Klose, the Germans were relegated to attempting to pass their way into the goal and taking long-distance shots - both of which, for much of the match, were unsuccessful. However, a brilliant act of creativity by Mesut Oezil saw the youngster's rocket from the top of the box fly into the corner, thereby giving Germany the win they needed to advance out of the group stage.

Mesut Oezil celebrates his goal with teammates

Awaiting them in the knockout rounds was traditional rival England. A rematch of the 1966 World Cup final had many neutral observer and rabid fans's mouths alike salivating. England had been disappointing up to that point in the tournament, and for the first 30 minutes of the match, it continued in much the same vein, with Germany taking a quick 2-0 lead through Klose and Podolski (who else?).

However, the looming threat of elimination seemed to galvanize England, and they pulled a goal back quickly before culminating in what they thought was the equalizer from Frank Lampard on the stroke of halftime. However, despite the ball crashing in off the crossbar and clearly going over the line, the referee did not award a goal and the score at halftime was 2-1 for Germany.

The possibilities of what would have happened after that goal had been allowed could be discussed endlessly, but the reality of the 2-1 score meant England had to attack to have any chance of coming back into the game. However, Germany was expecting this and transitioned effortlessly into a brutal and punishing counterattacking style that rewarded them with another 2 goals, to finish the game 4-1. Cue wild celebrations across Germany and despondence and despair in England.
If England had been feared to give Germany a run for their money, their next opponent were even more so: Argentina. Argentina had been running through their opponents, easily winning their group and looking classy while doing so. Two favorites entered this quarterfinal match in what was thought to be a very entertaining and attacking match.

An early mistake by the Argentinian goalkeepr allowed Thomas Mueller to score early on for Germany, and from that point on, Germany was content to simply soak up Argentina's relentless attacks and respond quickly on the counterattack. As Argentina became more frustrated by their lack of results in front of goal, their play became sloppier and this allowed Germany's forwards to slip by them. Once the second goal went in, Argentina's players seemed to deflate, and the next two seemed to just be for fun for Germany. A 4-0 final scoreline emphasized Germany's attacking and defending strength. Germany was simply dominating every team they met, with scores of 4-0, 4-0, and 4-1 padding their goal differential.

Defender Arne Friedrich's goal was the icing on the cake against Argentina

After tearing through their opponents in the group stage and the knockout rounds, Germany finally met a team that had had their number in previous meetings: Spain. The reigning European Champions had faced a defensive-minded team in every game they played, which allowed them to simply play to their strengths in outrunning and outpassing their opponents. It was hoped that Germany's attacking talents would be able to counterbalance the Spanish domination in passing and a remarkable game would emerge.

However, Germany would have to do without a vital player in forward Thomas Mueller, who had received an accumulation of yellow cards that forced him to sit out. Against Spain, this missing link was crucial, as Mueller was often the driving force behind the strong German counterattacks that created so many chances and ended in so many goals.

Germany tried to stifle the Spanish passing through the middle and attempted to create swift counterattacks, but these mostly proved ineffective and eventually the Spanish goal came late in the second half off of a corner kick, and once again Germany lost to Spain 1-0 in a major tournament's knockout rounds.

Though Germany were naturally disappointed, they could still hold their heads up high. The Germans reached their third semifinal in a row at the World Cup, following their performances at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. A 3-2 win in the third-place match against Uruguay helped restore some of the lingering negative effects of the semifinal loss to Spain.

How did Germany achieve such a fantastic result with players who have so limited experience? Many of the younger players had been on the German youth teams that won every tournament they entered in. That's right. The UEFA U-17, U-19, and U-21 champions were all Germany in the years leading up to the 2010 World Cup. No other nation has achieved that feat before. Watching the 4-0 win over England in the U-21 final, many of the players on that squad also made the full squad in 2010.



Germany's youth program is clearly one of the best in Europe and the world. Following disappointing results in the 90's and early 2000's, the Deutscher Fussball Bund made changes to its youth policies, and since then, every Bundesliga side has invested heavily into their youth program, which has resulted in a vast quantity of talented players coming through the ranks that look as though they are more than able to fill the shoes of aging players.

Though they came up just short in 2010, the German team looks like it will be a major contender for several more tournaments to come. The more experience and playing time their youth players get at the international level, the more the team will acquire cohesion, and this can only mean bad things for the rest of European football. The future is definitely bright for German football.