'The trophy is within our reach', says German coach Loew

The German team are brimming with confidence. After crushing England in the knock-out round and humiliating Argentina in the quarter-finals, this stellar German team has the talent to go all the way.

By FRANCE 24 (text)

Germany’s football squad, now set to face off against Spain in the semis on Wednesday, has charmed World Cup audiences around the world with their stunning and spirited performances. Coach Joachim Loew’s team shocked the Argentinians with a 4-0 routing, following on from their already impressive display against Australia (4-0) and England (4-1) during the competition.

Loew: “We can think about winning the title”

“There are only two games left to play. The trophy is now within our reach”, Loew said Saturday.

Loew’s confidence has naturally been fed by his players’ stellar performance in the quarter-final match against Argentina.

“It is natural to dream after a match like that. We have a very good team, we can think about winning the title”, added the team’s captain, Philipp Lahm.

Next Wednesday’s match will be Germany’s twelfth appearance in the quarter-finals of the competition. This is an impressive statistic considering the team has participated in just seventeen World Cups.

The team spirit and the fiercely competitive football displayed by the Mannschaft (as they are affectionately known, with Mannschaft meaning ‘team’ in German) has seen the squad steamroll their opposition. At no moment during Saturday’s game did the offensive armada led by Barcelona striker Leonel Messi destabilise the German rear guard, with the two steadfast defensive midfielders, including Bastian Schweinsteiger proving particularly impenetrable.

Young talent and team spirit

The 23 players who make up Germany’s national team are also the youngest the country has seen since 1934, with the average age being just 25. The source of all this young talent is the Bundesliga, Germany’s premier football league, where, with the exception of some senior players like Michael Ballack, Loew has successfully handpicked some of the league’s hungriest young players to make up this potentially World Cup winning team.

One player who certainly should be singled out is Thomas Müller, who has been one of the stars of this year’s tournament. At just 20 years old, Müller, who plays in attack alongside Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose, is a force to be reckoned with. Since the tournament’s start, he has scored four of the 13 German goals and played a role in the bulk of the rest. Although Müller will be suspended for the upcoming semi-final match against Spain’s La Roja, one of the many talented players on the German bench will surely be able to fill his boots.

Champions in both 1954 and 1974, Germany last took the World Cup home 20 years ago in 1990. The upcoming match against Spain offers the Mannschaft not only the opportunity to advance to the final round, but also to avenge their 1-0 defeat to La Roja in the 2008 European Football Championship in Vienna.

After crushing former World Cup champions England and Argentina, nothing is impossible for this German team…

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Date created : 04/07/2010

Comments (5)

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by horst (not verified) - 07/07/2010 - 01:10

The match against Argentina was Germany's 12th appearance in the
quarter finals. Next Wednesday's match is the semi final !

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German Football

by Steve (not verified) - 06/07/2010 - 00:50

Bloody lovely football. I watched Germany thrash my own team, England, in a bar full of German people in Corfu. It was an excrutiating experience but the spirit in which these folks accepted their victory and the great skill exhibited by their team somehow made the defeat acceptable. Bravo Germany - now go on and win!