Ye olde rivalful: England – Germany

August 21st, 2007 | By: Bense | 5 Comments »

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.



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Comments
Username By Jon Ratski | September 10th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
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cornercorner

Without Oliver Kahn in net, nor on the sidelines keeping his team in line, I doubt that Germany will come anywhere close to the finals in 2010. The Euros may be a fluke.

Posted from United States United States

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Username By coonie | September 15th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
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Im really exciting about EURO 2008.
England,my Hero!

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Username By Arminius | September 29th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
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Hey guys, out of tune with reality, eh ?
Germany beat England at Wembley – once again.
They have such a big pot of talents that any list of invalids doesn’t bother the coach much. (With the England team it is just the other way round, obviously.)
You just wait. The big times for us are acomin’…

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Username By bunty | November 1st, 2007 at 8:13 am
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Only fooolzzz write off Germanss!!!

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Username By Kant | November 20th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
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Arminius,
you make it easy for me – thanks. I subscribe to every single word of yours.
A renaissance of German football quality has been under way for quite a while. It is not an unpleasant thought that many people abroad have not fully realized that as yet. Quote Arminius: “You just wait.”

And you Azzurri: You just wait, too …

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