Ye olde rivalful: England - Germany

Allright, folks. It’s that special time of the year again. No. Not March Madness. No. Not Christmas Playoff Season. It’s the time of meaningless friendlies again. But this one ain’t so meaningless. I am afraid of having our national butts kicked.

With all of the national pride at stake and bla bla… Come on. Quality papers like the Sun are - of course - gonna have another headline tomorrow like “The tanks are rolling again into the new Wembley” or “Bloody Krauts”. That’s part of the fun. Wait for our OOOMPAH-bands. A brilliant World Cup can be forgotten pretty darn quick. But how much is it about that game at all? I wish Löw would have nomminated Didi Hamann, all he can field is 11 players and 6-7 more right now. But it would be insane to risk any injuries right now in the first place for something that is being called a friendly. But that’s not what it is. This is always a matter of “national pride and honor”.

There are quite some players being injured for England, Rooney will be definitely out, Beckham and Hargreaves might be unfit to play. But as a Germany blogger, I’m gonna be more detailed about “my” team:

Definitely out, but consistant players from World Cup and/or the qualifiers are (There is no third goalie so substract from 22):

Podolski, Ballack, Klose, Frings, Fritz (and I would have loved to seen him on the squad, just for the name’s sake!), Gomez, Jansen, Schweinsteiger. Not 100% fit: Metzelder after a sprained ankle, Mertesacker after a back injury, Hilbert after having to play defense instead of his common offensive midfielder role, Kießling because of a mild concussion suffered last weekend, Lahm because of a torn cartilage 6 weeks ago.

The players that are regulars is narrowing down to: Lehmann, Lahm, Friedrich, Metzelder, Schneider, Mertesacker. Khedira was nominated, but can’t even play. Another “young gun” is Pander, a defensive player from Schalke. Hitzlsperger will have his big chance to step up, rise, shine and reenact a “Hamann” with a free kick. Pander will see game time. God bless them, but I hope Helmes, Odonkor, Rolfes and Tasci are not gonna see too much playing time against experienced England pro’s. But then, on the other side… what other reason would there be having those U25-players on the lose? Am I just too afraid of the English side? Couldn’t there be anything sweeter to beat England again, after Germany beated England in their very last game at the old Wembley? The kids will know what to do, even if they’ll loose with dignity. Give’em hell, boys! And if you’ll blow it, do it with portliness.

Realistically, with all the injuries, England is still the favourite, espacially on home soil. Being real, Germany has a coach that is by far better than his counterpart and this might hold England to a draw. See you again for a restrospective analysis of the game. My best guess: 2:1 for England.